


Fiancé for Sale

by EmeraldGreen555



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, M/M, Minor Character Death, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-12-01 06:38:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 62,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11480766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldGreen555/pseuds/EmeraldGreen555
Summary: AU Zhang Yixing has had enough of his fiancé's clumsy antics. But he could not abruptly call off the wedding just like that. Not when he spent quite a large fortune on it. Leaning his head on the couch in his private office, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Then, something clicked in his mind - he could just sell off his fiancé. Junmyeon would surely fetch for a very high price. He smirked. This is such a genius idea...





	1. A Different Morning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first ever story published in AO3. I've already finished writing up this entire story and had already uploaded it in AFF so I thought I'd publish it here too! My AFF account is Amethyst55. Just fyi, the additional tags occur briefly in the story so they are not a significant sub-plot but I thought I'd just add them to be careful. 
> 
> Hope you guys will enjoy this story!

Junmyeon jolted awake. He looked around and panicked when he found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. Currently, he was in a large, well-furnished room, its walls covered with a light blue wallpaper. Bright light crept in through the undrawn curtains that covered two large windows. It was then when he realized that he was neatly tucked into an enormous bed.

At this point, Junmyeon’s heart was pounding in his chest as he struggled to recall yesterday’s events.

_“Xing, what’s going on?” Junmyeon asked hesitantly as he glanced at the suitcase beside the front door._

_His fiancé stared at him nonchalantly. “Your buyer is taking you to your new home.”_

_“B-Buyer? N-new home?” The pale male spluttered._

_Ignoring him, Yixing walked past him when he felt a tight grip on his arm._

_“Xing-ah, is this a joke? W-What about our wedding?”_

_Yixing shook away from his grip and scowled at him. “The wedding’s been cancelled, Junmyeon. And now, you’re finally leaving from my life. Good riddance.”_

_“Xing-ah…p-please tell me this is all a joke. You can’t be serious about kicking me out. I beg you, Xing…”_

_“Don’t make a scene, Junmyeon. The deal has already been made. You will now live with Mr. D.O., your buyer.”_

_“Tao, take him away.”_

A blinding headache struck him and Junmyeon groaned in pain, cradling his head.  Was it true that Zhang Yixing, his soon-to-be-husband actually sold him? It couldn’t be, right? His fiancé loved him too much to do such a despicable thing. Maybe…maybe his dear fiancé was forced to do it. Yeah…that must be it. Too deep in his thoughts, Junmyeon was oblivious to the sound of the door opening and soft footsteps padding on the floor.

“Are you awake?” A husky voice snapped Junmyeon out of his reverie. The startled male lifted his gaze to see a small male with big doe eyes and a trim haircut.

“Are you okay?” The doe-eyed stranger asked.

“W-Who are you?” Junmyeon refused to answer the stranger’s queries as he tightened the blanket around his body.

“Oh right! My name is Do Kyungsoo.”

“A-Are you my… _buyer_?”

The pale male could see the other hesitating to answer. “Y-Yes. Actually-”

At once, Junmyeon grabbed the pillow behind him and whacked the unsuspecting male several times with it until the latter came tumbling onto the floor. Discarding his weapon, Junmyeon quickly ran out of the room, ignoring the outraged yells behind him. He had only made one step out of the room when the pale male felt strong arms encircling him from behind. Cursing at Kyungsoo’s quick recovery, Junmyeon began to thrash wildly in the tight hold.

“Let me go! You crazy person!” Junmyeon threw his head back, successfully head-butting the other male in the face. After being released, Junmyeon quickly ran and was turning a corner when he crashed face-first onto a huge, well-built chest. From the floor, the startled Junmyeon glanced up to see a tall man with an imposing stature and a menacing expression. Shocked by the man’s intimidating appearance, the pale male passed out.

* * *

Kyungsoo rubbed his slightly sore nose tenderly as he approached the unmoving figure on the floor. Sighing, the doe-eyed male reached down to scoop up the unconscious male into his arms. Despite his small body, he was actually quite strong.

“I-Is he going to be okay?” The tall male glanced between Kyungsoo and the pale male with worry, total opposite to the cold face he was sporting earlier.

“Just go to work, Kris. I’ll take care of him,” Kyungsoo assured the other. The tall male briefly examined the dark bruises on the pale male’s otherwise unblemished skin. Some were fading and some were fresh.

“Okay,” came Kris’ reluctant answer a few moments later.

Even though he wanted to stay, Kris knew that was out of question since he had an important meeting later. As he drove his car out of his bungalow, he glanced back longingly at the house before leaving for work, his thoughts filled about the pale male.

* * *

“Good morning, Zhang-seonsaengnim!”

Neatly-dressed staff chorused and bowed as their CEO, Zhang Yixing strode through the hallways confidently, and who did not even spare a glance at them. It was not that they greeted them out of courtesy but actually, it was out of fear. Literally, a week ago, an intern failed to greet the CEO when he walked past her because she had not seen him before. As a result, she was promptly kicked out of the building.

As the elevator was moving up, Yixing pulled his untidy tie, frowning at the discomfort that it brought him. The tie was tight and suffocating. Adding to his irritation, he also overslept and skipped breakfast as it was not even prepared for him that morning. Every morning, Junmyeon would wake up very early to prepare sandwiches for him, wake him up on time and fix his tie before Yixing headed for work. But, Junmyeon was no longer living with him, and Yixing ended up with a terrible morning and firing all the maids present in the house.

Heading into his office, Yixing sighed grumpily as he forcefully placed his briefcase on his desk, not caring that some of the stationery rolled onto the floor. Pressing a button on his desk, he ordered Xiumin to bring him coffee and fetch him the new batch of paperwork. Almost instantly, a young lady entered his office to hand him the documents and a cup of hot coffee.

“Thanks…”he mumbled as he glanced at her name tag. “Irene.”

“You’re welcome!” Irene responded cheerfully. Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes, Yixing motioned at her to leave.

“My name is Bae Joohyun and I am working as your new secretary from today onwards! I won’t disappoint you, Zhang-seonsaengnim!” She bowed respectfully.

Eye twitching in annoyance, Yixing ordered her to leave.

Bowing again, Irene pivoted on her heel, about to head out when she turned back to face Yixing. “I express my sympathy for the cancellation of your wedding. It’s too bad. I think you and Mr. Kim Junmyeon look really compatible with each other,” Irene replied honestly.

Slamming his hand on his desk, the Chinese man scared her when he scowled at her and yelled, “That’s none of your business!”

“And just what do you think you’re trying to do, huh? Are you trying to make friends with me? You think you and I can be close friends!?” Yixing hissed.

Trying hard not to flinch, Irene regained her composure and fired back, “That’s right. An organisation can only fully prosper when there are good relations between the boss and his employees. Workplace harmony is integral to business outcomes.”

“You’d better stop running your mouth right now…”Yixing growled.

However, Irene still kept talking as she touched her nametag. “And besides, why must all of us have nicknames for you to refer to? With all due respect, sir, calling each other by our real names are much better-”

SMACK!

Before Irene could register the scorching pain on her cheek, she felt her arm being seized by her boss and was dragged to the entrance of his office. Without warning, Yixing shoved her to the ground. The other workers in the vicinity paused in whatever they were doing to witness the commotion with a mix of confusion and terror.

“Get out.” When Irene merely stared back at him in horror while cradling her sore cheek, Yixing yelled even louder. “I said, get the fuck out of my building!”

“And what the fuck are you guys staring at! Am I not giving you guys any work to do?” At once, everyone resumed whatever they were doing. “Where’s Chen?”

“Here, sir.”

“Get this trash out of my building. And find me a new secretary, one who actually knows their place.”

“Yes, sir.”

Heading back to his office, Yixing sat on his swivel chair. Noticing his coffee, he raised the cup to his lips before he visibly winced at the horribly bitter and cold taste. He threw the ceramic cup to the floor, unfazed by the deafening shattering sounds that rang in his ears, his mood worsened by the events beforehand. Pressing the button on his desk, Yixing barked at Xiumin to make him another cup of coffee and pressed once more to alert Chen to clean the mess in his office.

Pulling at his tie once more, Yixing sighed in frustration, mumbling how the day was going to be a long one.

 


	2. Surprise, Surprise

Every morning, as soon as Kris entered his office, his personal assistant Jessica Jung would greet him before joining his side and preparing his coffee on the spot. Kris preferred his coffee immediate, not minutes beforehand. As he sipped his coffee, he would skim through the day’s newspaper, only picking up on the articles that he found interesting and then he would be done in five minutes.

That was his usual routine.

However, that morning, Kris merely stared at the newspaper, his cup of coffee untouched.

_QILIN CEO’S 2 BILLION WON-WEDDING OFFICIALLY CANCELLED_

The giant headline leaped out at him in stark black and white. The front page news was accompanied by a photograph of said CEO, Zhang Yixing and his former fiancé, Kim Junmyeon, bordered by a heart with a crack in between them. As obvious with its placement in the page, this piece of news would surely be a hot topic for the days to come. Kris sourly remembered about the time when the wedding was first announced a few months back. That news was literally shoved into his face everywhere, as if reminding him that _he_ had already been taken.

“Is today’s news that interesting?” His assistant’s voice pulled Kris out of his thoughts.

“The rumour mill has it that you attended the same high school that Zhang Yixing went to,” Jessica remarked casually. The perceptive assistant did not miss the way her boss briefly stiffened before regaining his composure.

“What’s this? I didn’t know you’re the type to listen to gossip, Sica,” Kris turned to face her, amusement laced in his voice.

Jessica gave a light laugh. “Just the ones I’m interested in.”

“Thanks for the coffee, Sica.” She nodded and left the room.

A few minutes later, loud knocks rapped on his office door and without even waiting for an answer, the person simply entered.

“AYO WADDUP KREASE?” The loud voice belonged to Park Chanyeol, Kris’ friend from university. It had already been six years and that greeting still had not worn out.  Not that Kris minded though.

“Ayo what’s up…” came Kris’ half-hearted reply, his eyes not leaving the newspaper. Chanyeol frowned.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing. Just had an unbelievable morning,” Kris cracked a half-smile at his best friend.

“Want to talk about it?” Chanyeol asked as he regarded the blonde male with concern. 

“Honestly, nope.”

“I see.” Chanyeol nodded. Even though he wanted to press on the matter, he decided against it. Despite being very close friends, there were still some boundaries that they did not overstep.

After a minute of silence, Chanyeol spoke up, “So, ready for the meeting?”  

* * *

Throughout the entire meeting, Kris could not help but feel jittery, shaking his leg repeatedly and glancing at his wristwatch every five seconds. Chanyeol frowned at his best friend’s unusual behaviour as the latter was always attentive in every meeting, no matter how dry it was.

“I like your idea, Hyoyeon. A 3D-enabled phone screen without the use of 3D glasses or additional accessories would really interest a lot of buyers and non-buyers as well. What do you think, Kris?”

At once, all eyes were on the CEO who was staring blankly in front of him and Chanyeol had to lightly kick the distracted male under the table. Startled, Kris sat straight and blinked repeatedly.

“What were you saying?”

Everyone at the table, except Chanyeol, stared at him in disbelief, shocked to learn that their CEO had clearly not been listening to the presentations all this while. One of them in particular had been waiting for Kris to slip up and tried to exploit the situation to embarrass him.

“Ah, so the founder of Ace Galaxy products apparently thinks he’s above us. This is why youngsters should never become multi-millionaires lest all the success will all go to their heads.”

Chanyeol did not have to turn his head to know that it was one of the financial analysts making that comment. That testy old man had often openly expressed his bitterness at his and Kris’ massive accomplishments at such a young age.

“I apologize everyone. Actually, I’ve been conducting extensive research to think of some features for our new Ace G5 for the past few days and I’ve been losing a lot of sleep for that. But still, that is no excuse for me not paying attention. A 3D-enabled phone screen is a great idea but we also have to consider the costs for that function cos it’s not really a practical use for regular phone users,” Kris replied smoothly.

At that, his co-workers at the table nodded in agreement, their respect growing for the CEO. Chanyeol had to bite back a laugh at seeing the financial analyst’s sour expression since his plan to embarrass Kris backfired.

When the meeting was paused for a short break, Chanyeol pulled his best friend aside, away from prying eyes.

“Hey. Are you feeling alright?” Chanyeol asked, his voice laced with concern.

“Yeah,” Kris replied before checking his wristwatch for the umpteenth time. Chanyeol sighed.

“Take the rest of the day off, Kris.”

“What?” Kris stared at the younger man, wide-eyed.

Chanyeol gave the blonde man a reassuring smile and pat on the shoulder. “Just head home, Kris. I’ll take care of everything for today. Besides, today is just the presentations. I’ll send you the reports of all of the presentations tomorrow morning.”

Kris broke into a large smile before hugging his best friend. “Thanks, Yeolie! I’m so glad to have an amazing friend like you!”

“Yeah…yeah…” Chanyeol smiled as he returned the hug.

* * *

When Kris had arrived home and headed to the second floor, he was puzzled to find Kyungsoo sweeping the floor in the middle of the afternoon. As he approached the shorter man, he grew concerned when he saw glass shards piling on the dust pan.

“Soo, what’s going on?”

The shorter man looked up and sighed heavily. “He started going crazy again when he woke up. I had to stop him and in the process, he broke a vase. And it was my favourite one.”

“Now, I have to buy a new one…” The shorter male proceeded to grumble, frown marring his features. After sweeping up all the glass shards, he glanced back at Kris. “You’re home early.”

Kris opened his mouth to speak before closing it. Seeing his hesitation, Kyungsoo spoke up, “You’re worried about him, aren’t you?”

Kris nodded as he pressed his lips together. He then glanced around, his eyes searching for somebody.

“Where’s Junmyeon?”

“His room,” Kyungsoo jerked his head towards a door. The taller male walked towards the door and took a deep breath before opening it. Kris rolled his eyes when he discovered that it was locked. Wordlessly, he held out his hand and Kyungsoo reluctantly handed him the key. Promptly unlocking the door and opening it, Kris’ jaw went slack at the sight that greeted him behind the door. He was shocked to see Junmyeon tied up on his bed and his mouth taped shut, writhing and thrashing wildly.

“Junmyeon!” Kris called out in worry and rushed to the pale male’s side in an instant.

“What the hell, Soo! We’re not kidnappers!” Kris glared at the shorter male who just gave a noncommittal shrug in return. Shaking his head, Kris helped the panicked male sit up and pressed his body firmly down when the latter was still squirming about.

“Hey calm down! I’m not going to hurt you, okay?” Kris heaved a sigh of relief when Junmyeon calmed down and tried his best to remain unfazed when the latter shot him an intense glare. “Listen, I’m going to take this tape off your mouth but promise me you won’t scream, okay?”

When Junmyeon weakly nodded his head, Kris reached out and gently removed the tape from his mouth. The pale male then gasped loudly, greedily taking in gulps of air. Seeing that Junmyeon had been cooperative so far, Kris was about to shoot Kyungsoo a reassuring smile when-

“HELPP!!!!” Junmyeon screamed at the top of his lungs. Kris flinched, eyes widening in shock. Not knowing what to do, Kris simply froze to the spot, watching the pale male continue to scream for help.

“Kris! Shut him up!” Kyungsoo called out angrily, breaking the taller male out of his trance.

In reflex, Kris hastily covered the Junmyeon’s mouth with his large hand, muffling his screams considerably and with the sudden huge force, he pushed the other down onto the bed.

“Is everything okay there?”

Kyungsoo threw a nasty glare at Kris. Even without words spared, Kris could sense the heavy ‘I told you so’ from the little man. Kyungsoo headed to the windows and shot their nosy neighbour a huge, forced smile.

“There’s nothing wrong here, Mrs Kang.”

“Are you sure? I thought I heard someone yelling for help.”

“Ah that was the television. The volume was pretty high when we switched it on but we’ve lowered the volume. Sorry if it disturbed you, Mrs Kang.”

As Kyungsoo exchanged some words with their neighbour, Kris realized his close proximity with Junmyeon and felt the rush of blood to his cheeks as he studied the male under him. Junmyeon still looked as gorgeous as ever, even prettier than the newspaper picture from this morning. His skin looked flawless minus the unpleasant-looking bruises, his hair was brunette in colour now, he must have dyed it recently, his-

OWCH!

Kris yelped in pain as he felt his hand being bit on hard.

“HELP!!! CALL THE POLICE!!” Panic filling him to the core, Kris hurriedly covered the other’s mouth with both of his hands, pinning Junmyeon to the bed with more force than earlier.

“Oh my! What’s happening over there? Should I be worried?”

“Oh no no, nothing’s wrong like I said, Mrs Kang,” Kyungsoo rushed to answer, internally cursing at Kris for slipping up again.

“But I heard the mention of police…”

“Ah! We-we….” Kyungsoo racked his brain to concoct a perfect lie. “We’re just acting out an iconic scene from a popular drama!”

Realization washed over Mrs Kang’s face. “Oh! I get it!”

Kyungsoo felt intense relief at his nice save. He suddenly remembered that Mrs Kang was quite an avid fan of K-dramas and would always use that topic to try to relate with young people.

“It must be from the drama ‘Hello Monster’, right?”

The shorter male had no idea what she was talking about but masked it well with a smile and nod. He was more of an anime watcher anyway. The neighbour seemed pleased for getting it right.

“Well, don’t act too seriously otherwise other neighbours may misunderstand. Not everyone is hip and watches K-dramas like me.”

“Sure we will.”

After exchanging some goodbyes, Kyungsoo instantly closed the window shut and pulled the curtains. As he headed out from the room, he glared intensely at the sheepish-looking Kris on the bed. He then returned with a handkerchief and a roll of duct tape.

“Sorry, Soo,” Kris apologized. The shorter male rolled his eyes as he balled the fabric.

_You’d better be._

“Let your hand go,” Kyungsoo instructed and shoved the fabric into Junmyeon’s mouth before he could scream again and then proceeded to tape his mouth shut. For good measure, he plastered another strip. Kris still looked concerned and the shorter male had to force him out of the room. Kris glanced over his shoulder and his heart ached at the sight of the petite male trembling uncontrollably and sobbing silently.

* * *

Pushing the taller male out of the room, Kyungsoo locked the door behind him and blocked the door with his arms when Kris tried to reach out for the door knob.

“Kris! Calm down! He’s in panic. He just needs some time to cool down.”

“Of course he’d be in panic! You treated him like some hostage!” Kris barked at Kyungsoo. “What were you thinking? Now, he’s going to be even more terrified of us!”

“I am thinking that we should keep him restrained so that he won’t inform the police,” Kyungsoo calmly responded. “It looks bad but there’s no other choice. Would you like it if you get arrested for a mistaken abduction?”

Averting his gaze, Kris panted harshly.

“I thought so,” Kyungsoo softened. “Besides, once he’s calmed down enough, we can have a decent conversation with him.”

“Fine,” Kris breathed out. “I trust you on this one cos your gut instinct has never failed.”

Kyungsoo nodded gratefully. They lapsed into silence before Kris spoke up.

“Sorry. I…didn’t expect all of this to happen. I didn’t expect him to go ballistic.”

Kyungsoo puffed out a laugh. “What’re you expecting? He’s probably been sold against his will. Heck, it’s possible it’s done without his consent too. You can’t expect him to willingly accept his buyer and all that.”

“Ah about that…I’m sorry that I made you buy Junmyeon using your name.”

“Don’t worry about that. I used a pseudonym. I had to sacrifice my family surname though.”

“Thanks, Soo. I owe you big time.”

“Don’t fret about it. Besides…” Kyungsoo trailed off as he motioned for them to sit down on the couch. “I remember back then you said you would give me an explanation when it’s time. I think now is as good time as any.”

Sighing, Kris closed his eyes and opened them again. “You know the guy who sold him off- Zhang Yixing?”

Kyungsoo nodded.

“Well, he and I used to be very close friends.”

 

 


	3. My Friend

Loud laughs echoed in the large house. Kyungsoo burst out laughing once his eyes rested on pictures of Kris from his high school days. Apparently, when Kris attended high school, he sported shoulder length black hair with a fringe that covered his forehead. In some pictures, Kris tied his hair up but since his hair was not that long, he ended up with a dishevelled look. It also did not help that the man in question wore a resting bitch expression in most of the photos.

“Hey! Stop laughing! This hair was the trend back then!” Kris aimed a small punch at Kyungsoo’s arm, eyes glowering at the shorter man.

“I’m sorry. Hahaha you look like some boy band member,” Kyungsoo tried to stifle his giggles as he continued shuffling through more of the pictures. He could only hold back his laughter for a few seconds before exploding in laughter again, finding the next picture even funnier than the last. “Why do you have so many photos of yourself?”

“There was this annoying perky girl who loved taking photos of students, especially me and Yixing because according to her, we look so ‘model-like’,” Kris grumbled under his breath, saying the phrase with air quotes.

As Kyungsoo came across photos of Kris and Yixing together, his laughter started to die down and his expression grew serious. “You’re not kidding when you said you two are close.”

“Of course I’m not.”

Kyungsoo stopped at one photo where Kris and Yixing scrunched their faces playfully at the camera, posing with peace signs before sighing. “Anyway, I think it’s great that you still keep your high school pictures in one box. That means you still treasure your memories from back then.”

“I take it you don’t?” Kris smiled wryly at his friend.

Kyungsoo shook his head. “My high school was full of snobbish and backstabbing people who were self-centred and obsessed with their grades. It was horrible to put it simply. You never know who’s being a two-face to you. But, I guess the only thing that makes it all bearable is Jongin.”

Kris nodded and found himself smiling when he saw the younger’s lips twitch slightly upwards at the mention of his boyfriend.

“Anyway, enough about me. So, how were you like back in high school? How did you become friends with this Zhang Yixing?”

“Well, to start, my name used to be Kevin Li back then,” Kris began.

“What? You changed your name!?” Kyungsoo stared at him, wide-eyed as he was hearing this information for the first time.

“Yeah I did,” Kris replied calmly. “And believe it or not, I was quite a delinquent back then…”

_The school bell rang, signalling the end of recess break. Students started to scramble their way back to class. However, one student could care less as he stood on the school rooftop that gave a perfect view of the school courtyard. The student merely smirked in amusement as he blew smoke past his lips while holding a cigarette between his long, slender fingers._

_It was a routine for him to skip classes after recess breaks. Of course, it annoyed his teachers greatly and they did try to convince him to attend class, begged him even but when he refused to listen, they just stopped trying. Good riddance too, he was starting to find them a bother._

_He then lowered himself to the ground, sitting down in a relaxed position as he admired the scenery before him._

_The school rooftop was where he usually wasted his time till school ended since it was very peaceful there. Well, it was until he barged into his life unannounced._

_“Kevin Li Jiaheng?”_

_Said boy sighed in annoyance and swung a gaze at the entrance to the rooftop, expecting to see an exasperated-looking teacher. To his surprise, it was a neatly-dressed student of slightly above average height with a very forced smile in his face. Kevin held back a laugh as he realized that this time, the school was trying to convince him to attend class by sending in students instead of teachers._

_Well, they can keep trying._

_“Who wants to know?” Kevin decided to mess with this unlucky student for his own entertainment._

_“Zhang Yixing,” the student, Yixing, replied confidently even though he was still standing at the same spot near the entrance._

_“Never heard of him.”_

_“If you actually came to class, you would recognize me as your class monitor.” Kevin snorted at the snippy comeback._

_“Don’t care.”_

_“And I’m also the student council president.”_

_“Yawn.”_

_“Wow, Kevin you’re one rude person, I give you that.” Yixing huffed. “But I’m assigned by Mrs Hwang to steer you back to the right path so you have to start cooperating with me.”_

_After that was said, Yixing marched towards where Kevin idly sat, standing directly beside the delinquent, crossing his arms as he did so. Yixing frowned after he realized what Kevin had been up to and reached down to snatch the lit cigarette away which deeply infuriated the latter._

_“Smoking in school is prohibited! Also, aren’t you underage for this stupid unhealthy crap?” Yixing snapped before throwing the cigarette on the ground and stomping on it repeatedly. When he lifted his head, he flinched slightly at a very hostile-looking Kevin who was now standing and towering over him with his impressive height._

_“Just what the fuck do you want, Mr. Goody-Two Shoes?” Kevin glared at the shorter boy._

_Yixing returned the glare with one of his own. “You’re bringing down our class average so I have to tutor you and help you improve your marks.”_

_“Fuck that!” was all Kevin said as he started to take his leave, stomping towards the exit. However, he did not expect Yixing to run past him and block his way with his hands on his hips, reminding Kevin of a certain superhero who wore red spandex on the outside._

_“Stop being so selfish! Think about your parents, Jiaheng. They’re going to be so disappointed when they find out that their son is performing badly in school and smoking at that-” Yixing did not manage to finish his sentence as he was suddenly lifted from the ground and shoved to the wall beside the exit._

_“Shut the fuck up,” Kevin growled at the shorter boy who looked slightly scared. “You know nothing about me. So shut up before you end up with a black eye. And don’t call me Jiaheng! Only my grandmother can call me that!”_

_Kevin roughly released the shorter boy who managed to stabilize himself and not drop unceremoniously to the ground. Yixing panted slightly as he watched Kevin stepped through the exit._

_“You do know that there’s a parent-teacher meeting after school this Friday, right?” Yixing asked, a little out of breath._

_Kevin stopped in his tracks before saying, “My parents are not going to come. They never do.”_

* * *

_If there was one thing that Kevin wanted to do very badly right now, it was to scream at the top of his lungs. That annoying pest Zhang Yixing had practically forced him to stay back after school until his parents attended the meeting. Not only that, Yixing also threatened that he would report Kevin to the principal which would then risk an expulsion if the delinquent were to leave. The student council president then left in a haste to ‘attend other matters’ leaving Kevin no choice but to obey._

_And here he was, sitting on a chair outside his classroom as he watched grimly as his classmates met Mrs Hwang with their parents. Those who did a great job with their grades received pats on their backs from their parents while those who didn’t received an earful. Either way, those gestures showed how deeply their parents cared for his classmates and Kevin was struck by envy because care was something his parents had never given him._

_Late evening was already approaching and unsurprisingly, his parents still had not turned up. It was at this point that Yixing appeared again and was genuinely shocked to discover that fact. Yixing offered to call his parents and even though Kevin could not hear what they were conversing over the phone, Kevin saw how his class monitor’s eyes widened to the size of saucers like he was deeply shocked by what he was hearing by his parents._

_“It looks like you’re right. Your parents are indeed not coming,” was all Yixing said in disbelief after he had hung up the phone._

_“I told you already! But you didn’t listen! And you also threatened me just cos you are the student council president! And now you wasted my time!” Kevin bellowed at the shorter boy._

_“I’m sorry Kevin! I didn’t know-”_

_“Mind your own fucking business next time!” With pent-up frustration, Kevin shoved Yixing to the ground and stomped out of the school._

_Even though Kevin was not surprised by his parents’ absence, it still made his heart ache they still did not bother to turn up even when they were driven to a corner.  A silent tear slid down his cheek and he brushed it off angrily._

* * *

_As usual, Kevin headed straight to the hospital to visit his sickly grandmother after school ended. However, he was caught off guard when he saw a stranger sitting on a chair in front of his grandmother’s bed._

_Except it was no stranger as he peered closer._

_Zhang Yixing._

_After what he had done to him, he still had the audacity to show his face here! Kevin frowned and he was about to yell when Yixing noticed him._

_“Hey!” He waved at Kevin cheerfully as if they were been best friends._

_“What the hell are you doing here?” Kevin yelled, earning loud shushes from the nurses._

_“Jiaheng, language! And no shouting!” Kevin’s grandmother hissed at him to his surprise._

_“Sorry, nǎinai,” Kevin instantly apologized. He did not like to anger his beloved grandma. Also, it would be harmful for her health._

_“Now greet your friend Yixing properly,” she instructed him._

_“Hello Kevin!” Yixing tried again._

_Not wanting to show any hostility in front of his beloved grandma, Kevin gritted my teeth, “Hi.”_

_“Jiaheng, you didn’t tell me that you have such a sweet young man as a close friend,” his grandmother said._

_“That’s because I don’t,” was what Kevin wanted to say but he held his tongue._

_“Yeah well I prefer not to talk about my friends.” After hearing that Kevin had acknowledged him as a friend, Yixing perked up and his smile grew wider, his dimple becoming more prominent._

_“I’m glad you’re making some friends, Jiaheng. You’ve always told me how you have a hard time getting along with people.” Kevin’s grandma offered a smile to which Kevin automatically returned with one._

_“Did he tell you that he failed all his subjects in school?” Yixing innocently offered._

_Eyes bulging with surprise, Kevin proceeded to trap the other boy in a head-lock, enjoying the sounds of him sputtering and choking._

_“What’s this, Jiaheng?” Kevin’s grandma scolded harshly. “Why aren’t you taking school seriously? Didn’t I tell you to study and work hard? And let go of the young man for god’s sake!”_

_Reluctantly, Kevin complied. He bit back a smile when he saw Yixing greedily gulping for air._

_“But nǎinai, school is so tough. And studying is not my style," Kevin whined._

_“Worry not, Mrs Li! I, Zhang Yixing, would help your grandson steer back to the right path and help him improve on his marks. By the end of this year, his grades would skyrocket to the ceiling!” Yixing interjected as his eyes shone with determination, oblivous to Kevin's piercing glare._

_“Ah that’s reassuring, my child. I entrust my stubborn grandson to your hands…” Kevin’s grandmother turned to face the startled male. “Jiaheng, will you promise me that you will cooperate with this sweet young man and work hard in school?”_

_“Sure, nǎinai,” Kevin forced a smile and suppressed the urge to punch Yixing when the latter cheered enthusiastically._

_The pair then spent an hour with Kevin’s grandma before leaving. Once the pair left her room, Kevin violently held the unsuspecting Yixing by his collar. “What the hell! What are you trying to do? Why can’t you just leave me alone?”_

_With quite surprising strength, he shoved himself out of Kevin’s grip and then dusted himself off. “I’m doing this for your benefit. And you wouldn’t want to disappoint your grandma, would you?”_

_Kevin opened his mouth to speak but was not able to refute with the other’s words. He averted his gaze and sighed exasperatedly._

_An arm was then placed on his shoulder. “I also want to apologize.”_

_Kevin’s eyes flicked toward Yixing who was looking at the floor apologetically. “I’m sorry that I was so forceful and unreasonable to you that day. At first, I thought you were lying about your parents not turning up. I assumed that all parents care about their children but I was wrong. When I was on the phone with your parents, they told me frankly that…that they don’t give a damn about you. I was shocked to hear such mean words. So, I’m sorry about that.”_

_“It’s alright,” Kevin sighed, feeling his anger dissipating. Yixing’s apology sounded so heartfelt that he could not help but forgive him._

_“How did you know about my nǎinai?” Kevin asked._

_Yixing brightened up with a smile. “Well, I remembered that you mentioned about your grandma when I first confronted you. So, I thought you’d be at least close with your grandma. And with the help of Mrs Hwang, we tracked down which hospital your grandma was staying.”_

_“So you basically stalked me, isn’t that right?” Kevin said lazily._

_Yixing chuckled before his expression grew serious. “Yeah. I really want to help you Kevin. And after hearing your grandma talk about you, now I feel more than determined to help you.”_

_Kevin rolled his eyes. “Fine. Whatever.”_

_“Great! Let’s start now!” Yixing grabbed the taller’s arm and dragged him out of the hospital._

_“W-What? Now?” Kevin’s eyes widened in shock._

_“Yes now! We have a lot of work ahead of us, Jiaheng!” Yixing turned to smirk triumphantly at the taller boy. “You didn’t forget about the promise you made with your grandma, did you?”_

_Kevin struggled to come up with a good comeback but could only retort, “I told you! Only my nǎinai can call me that!”_

* * *

_From that day onwards, Kevin’s tutoring sessions with Yixing began. At first, Kevin tried to escape but the smart Yixing saw it coming and even threatened to call his grandma to inform her that her grandson was intentionally skipping classes and not keeping his promise of studying hard. It was a cheap trick but Kevin found himself attending the sessions. Just when he thought they were just meeting to tutor him, the annoying class monitor also tagged along with Kevin for his daily visits to his grandmother._

_Gradually, Kevin’ results started to improve and his single digit scores became double and then became even better. His marks had become so much better that Kevin almost thought that it was a miracle happening. Not to mention, he was happy seeing his grandma smile proudly at his own achievements. Unsurprisingly, his parents had no idea about his tremendous improvements but Kevin could care less about that. Only his grandma mattered to him. And soon, Yixing became someone that mattered to him too._

_One day, the two friends were walking around the shopping mall to buy a birthday gift for Mrs Hwang on the behalf of their class. Since Yixing began tutoring Kevin, they had started hanging out as two friends more often so Kevin had become used to the other’s presence in his life. As Kevin’s eyes were actively searching for pretty gifts, Yixing suddenly seized the taller boy’s arm and dragged him inside a small accessories shop._

_“Wow these look so cool!” Yixing marvelled at the wide array of bracelets displayed on the table near the cashier’s counter. Kevin gave them a cursory glance and quickly found the accessories very…simple and plain. Definitely not Mrs Hwang’s style. Before Kevin could voice his thoughts out, Yixing spoke first._

_“Why don’t we buy these for ourselves?”_

_“W-What? But bracelets are not my style!” Kevin stared at the cheerful boy in horror as if his friend had suggested something vile._

_“Oh shut up. We’ve been friends for so long. I think it’d be great if we wear these as a symbol of our friendship and hopefully an eternal one!” Yixing stated brightly, giving a dimpled smile._

_After a few minutes, the pair left the shop with matching bracelets. Kevin didn’t like the feeling of an accessory clamping around his wrist. Honestly, it felt like a handcuff but now that he was giving it proper attention, the design actually looked really pretty. Yixing definitely had exquisite taste. Kevin turned around to comment and frowned when he saw his friend with a sad expression gracing his features._

_“Why do you look so sad? Is the design ugly or something?” Kevin said as he scratched the back of his head. “I think it looks cool. The design is totally my style and is definitely yours too.”_

_Yixing laughed heartily at that and draped an arm around the taller. “It’s nothing! I’m just worrying about Mrs Hwang’s present. Let’s go!”_

“We were such close friends. We genuinely enjoyed each other’s company but then suddenly, Yixing started to distance himself away from me. And one day, we had a huge fight and Yixing said some things that really hurt my feelings. And after that, he broke off the bracelet, claiming that our friendship is over,” Kris reminisced.

“He suddenly stopped talking to you?” Kyungsoo spoke for the first time since the older began telling his past. To Kyungsoo, he was very shocked to learn that the hardworking and caring businessman Kris he knew now had a rebellious streak when he was younger.

“No.” Kris replied before pondering. “Now that you mention it, Yixing started to change after his mother passed away.”

“His mother?”

Kris darted his gaze towards Kyungsoo. “Yeah she passed away from a car accident.”

“So I take it Yixing was very close with his mum?”

“Yeah he was.”

“How about his dad?”

Kris scrunched up his face as he tried to recall what Yixing had told regarding his personal life. “I remember Yixing had implied that his dad had pressurised him from young to become his successor to his company. Now that I think about it, Yixing didn’t talk about his family much when we were friends.”

Kris sighed heavily as his fingers lightly brushed over Yixing’s broken bracelet that was filled with cracks. Kris stored all the memories of his high school in a box, including the pictures and other trinkets. He also kept Yixing’s broken one and his working one there. Meanwhile, Kyungsoo decided to keep quiet and instead continued to survey the other remaining pictures in the box and his gaze then rested on this certain picture where Kris, Yixing and a familiar pale-skinned boy were smiling at the camera, with the latter cradling a three-limbed bunny in his arms.

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened in realization and voiced his question before he could stop himself. 

“Isn’t this Junmyeon?”

“Yeah…”Kris sighed heavily as he glanced at a certain door with a heavy heart.

Kyungsoo hesitated to ask, “Um…did he recognise you at all?”

Solemnly, Kris lightly shook his head. “It’s been such a long time since then.”

“Hey, I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo placed a comforting hand on the taller man’s shoulder. “You don’t have to continue telling me the story if you don’t want to.”

“Yeah I don’t want to,” Kris answered honestly before shooting a smile at his friend. “Thanks, Soo. For being such an understanding friend.”

Kyungsoo nodded and then glanced at the clock on the wall before standing up. “I’m going to start preparing dinner.”

Kris hummed in response as his gaze lingered at the picture he took with Yixing and Junmyeon where they were all smiling comfortably around each other, oblivious to the fact that the friendship they shared was going to be short-lived.


	4. On His Own

For Yixing, the remainder of his day went by without a hitch. Yixing secretly felt satisfied when he saw how terrified his workers were after the scary commotion in the morning. He scoffed at the girl’s suggestions for better relations between the boss and his workers to raise productivity levels. No. It was when the boss instilled fear in his workers that work would actually be done efficiently and effectively. When his workers fear of failing him, they would be more attentive of their work and not commit a single mistake. Forget about good relationships. Those only serve to distract from the actual tasks. Once the workers get too chummy with their boss, they think they can get out of anything and expect work to be done for them instead. Complacency only leads to failure.

Once he stepped inside his house, Yixing removed his coat and instinctively held it out. He waited momentarily then darted his eyes around with annoyance.

“Junmyeon? Jun-”

Oh. He remembered that his former fiancé was not living with him anymore. Beyond irritated, Yixing threw his coat to the floor and barked at a maid near him to pick it up. The terrified maid scurried to comply with his order in fear of getting fired as well like all the other maids that morning.

Walking towards his white leather couch, Yixing rested his exhausted body on it. Sighing in bliss, he closed his eyes and leaned towards the soft covers of the furniture. After a while, he opened his eyes and idly glanced around till he caught a familiar ugly stain on his couch. Frowning, he picked up some tissues from the table in front of the couch and hastily tried to brush it off, but to avail. Fuming, he recounted how Junmyeon accidentally splashed expensive champagne and dirtied his ₩590,000 couch. Prior to that incident, his clumsy ex-fiancé had destroyed plenty of things but they only served to irritate him a little. The couch was definitely the last straw.

Fishing his phone out of his pocket, Yixing quickly called Tao, one of his trusted servants, to buy him the couch of the same model and brand and to get it as soon as possible, regardless of the shipping costs.

Hearing his stomach growl, Yixing instinctively called out Junmyeon’s name a few times before he heard a new voice.

“Junmyeon’s not here anymore.”

Gazing nonchalantly at the owner of the voice, Yixing lazily replied, “You never stop stating the obvious, Chen.”

“How could I not? When you yourself depended on him. Even though you won’t admit it,” Chen bravely responded.

Yixing scoffed at that.

When his master remained silent, Chen continued, “With all due respect, sir, I think your decision to sell Junmyeon was rather hasty and unneeded since it’s clear that you still treasure him very much.”

At that, Yixing waved off that comment dismissively and responded, “That’s something I’ll get used to eventually. Besides, he’s a burden anyway.”

Fixing a hard stare at his servant, Yixing reminded him, “And Chen, you’re hired to carry out my orders dutifully, not give me unnecessary life advice.”

Chen pursed his lips, not trusting himself to speak anymore.

“If you were not my most trusted confidante, you would’ve been fired a long time ago.”

When his butler gave him a nod, Yixing asked him, “What’s the progress with the new maids and secretary?”

“I’m still processing the applications, sir.”

“Then hurry up! I want them to start earliest tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sighing, Yixing massaged his temple. “Since you have the time to question my decisions, direct that time to fulfil your own duties.”

“Yes, sir…” Chen let out a sigh of his own.

“Go leave.”

Bowing slightly to his master, Chen strode out of the room.

His stomach started to growl again. Sighing to himself, Yixing picked up his phone to order some pizza and cola. It took him quite a while to place an order as usually food had already been prepared for him when he arrived home.


	5. Captive

Junmyeon lay on the bed, staring at the white ceiling. His eyes were puffy and red with dried tear tracks running down his pale cheeks, and his arms and legs were aching terribly from the strain of his bound limbs. For the past several hours that he had been trapped in the room, he had been crying incessantly and wishing for Yixing to arrive and save him like a shining knight in armour. Everything that came out from the kidnappers’ mouths about Yixing selling him must have been complete lies. There was no way his beloved sweet Yixing would do something as despicable as that. Most likely, they had been blackmailing his fiancé and had been holding him as captive till Yixing gave them what they wanted.  

Until then, Junmyeon had no choice but to wait with bated breath.

Junmyeon had definitely not expected the smaller of the two kidnappers to possess such tremendous strength that the latter was able to successfully restrain him when he had accidentally broke a vase earlier. The taller of the two seemed to be on the bumbling side and if not for Kyungsoo, Junmyeon’s cries for help could have been fruitful.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when there was a small, soft knock on the door. Junmyeon snorted at that, thinking about how courteous the kidnappers were acting towards him, their captive. The door then opened and Junmyeon recognized him as the taller of the two. Despite his intimidatingly large figure, Junmyeon preferred him to Kyungsoo because he appeared to be more approachable and much kinder. Junmyeon somehow felt secure with the tall male around him and he had no idea why that was so. 

The tall male entered the room with a tray of food and drinks. Junmyeon’s eyes widened as he hungrily took in the sight of the sustenance. The tray was placed gently on the table beside the bed and the tall male sat on the edge of the bed, staring straight at Junmyeon. Feeling the intensity of his stare, Junmyeon felt extremely uncomfortable and tried his best to ignore the male by focusing on the wall in front of him. At the corner of his eye, Junmyeon saw the other reaching his hands out towards him and involuntarily shut his eyes tightly, bracing himself for a hard smack to his face or head.

Instead, the hands carefully helped Junmyeon into a sitting position. The tape sealing his lips was gently removed and the pale male spat out the handkerchief confined in his mouth.  Before Junmyeon knew what was even happening, an uncapped water bottle with a straw sticking out from it was shoved to his face.

“Drink,” the tall male told him. Junmyeon merely stared at the other, studying his features now that he was facing the male directly. The male was actually…quite handsome. Junmyeon loved his thick eyebrows.

“It’s not poisonous if that’s what you’re thinking! Here I’ll show you,” Junmyeon watched as the male drank from the water bottle without the spout touching his lips. As the bottle was shoved to his face once more, Junmyeon reluctantly sipped from the straw since his throat felt incredibly parched.

After that, Junmyeon regarded the handsome male once more as the latter picked the bowl from the tray before blowing on a chopstick of noodles and attempting to feed the restrained man. Junmyeon simply turned his head away, not wanting to be fed and by a suspicious stranger no less. Somehow, he could sense the other male panicking, with the way his full eyebrows were knitted together with worry.

“Come on. Can you please eat?” he _pleaded._

_Wait…what?_

Junmyeon wondered if he was hearing things but he could have sworn he heard the other male _beg_ him to eat.

“You should eat at least something. Otherwise…” the next part came out a little hesitantly. “…I would get worried.”

Shocked by his words, Junmyeon threw the handsome male a bewildered look.

_Why are you acting like this? A kidnapper doesn’t act concerned with his victim._

The male must have thought that Junmyeon was going to be complying this time round and held up the noodles again but the pale male continued to stare at him as if he had grown two heads.

Sighing, the tall male gave up and proceeded to stand up after placing the bowl back on the tray.

“I’m going to leave this here. Please…eat up.”

As he turned around and was walking towards the door, Junmyeon spoke up.

“How am I going to eat with my arms tied behind my back?”

The tall male froze at his statement and turned to face him with a look which was a mixture of confusion and surprise. Suddenly scared of the man’s strange expression, Junmyeon gulped and braced himself for the worst when the male wordlessly approached him and held his hands out. Clenching his eyes shut in reflex, Junmyeon expected a smack on the head for making an audacious request but to his surprise, he felt a few tugs on his bound wrists before he was released from his binds.

Shocked that he was actually listened to, Junmyeon absentmindedly caressed his injured wrists and winced at the sight of the ugly red marks on his pale skin. He was surprised when the tall male reached out to grab his small hands and blow on the bruises gently. Realizing what he had done, the male let his hands go and then awkwardly stood around for a while before clearing his throat.

“Sorry about that. We didn’t mean to tie you up.”

Junmyeon continued staring at the handsome male who walked towards the door before pausing and turning around to face him again.

“By the way, my name is Kris.”

Junmyeon thought it was strange to find Kris’ eyes shining with anticipation, as if expecting for a response from him in return.

“Well, nice to meet you,” Kris said awkwardly. “Eat up, okay? I’ll be back.”

And with that, Kris left in a hurry, slamming the door behind him, most likely due to embarrassment.

After hearing the click of the door, Junmyeon sighed, not realizing that he had been holding his breath all this while.

“What a weirdo,” Junmyeon muttered under his breath.

 _But he’s quite good-looking_ , Junmyeon thought to himself. Junmyeon still found him weird though. Before he could entertain himself with more thoughts, his stomach growled obnoxiously and his cheeks flushed with embarrassment even though he was the only one in the room.

Hesitating, Junmyeon reached out for the bowl of noodles and took a deep breath before digging in like a madman. He had to admit that it tasted very delicious and he wondered if it was homemade since it was still piping hot. After finishing, he made himself comfortable on the bed before an idea popped in his mind.

Now that he had been fed, he realized that he could finally escape now! In a flash, he leapt out from the bed and tried the windows first. They did not budge. As expected, but disappointing no less. He then walked around the room, examining every nook and cranny, trying to find things that could allow him to escape from this hellhole. Finally, he went to the door and tried to twist the doorknob and unsurprisingly, it was locked.

Sighing in defeat, Junmyeon begrudgingly went back to the bed and collapsed on it. There was no doubt that his kidnappers had made sure that he would be kept in this room against his will for who knows how long. He then decided that he would save his energy since he did not know what would be in store for him. He figured that he could not depend on Yixing to rescue him.

For now, he would act like a mindless victim and escape when he got the chance.

_Yixing…wait for me…._


	6. The Calm Before the Storm

Weeks had passed, and Kris and Kyungsoo had become used to the third presence in the house. Junmyeon had proven to be quite obedient as time went by, and both Kris and Kyungsoo were surprised by that. As a reward for his obedience somewhat, Junmyeon was now allowed to walk around the house where he wished without restraints but was only limited to the second floor.

Funnily enough, he did not appear to _attempt_ to escape which baffled Kyungsoo greatly. When Junmyeon was first brought to the house, he was struggling to escape and now, it seemed that he had accepted his circumstances out of the blue. While Kyungsoo was suspicious, Kris was pleased with the turn of events. To Kris, this meant that Junmyeon had seen himself as a permanent resident of the house. Now, the next step was to have a mutual conversation with Junmyeon so that he could grow closer with the shorter male and make him smile. 

* * *

It was a boring meeting and Kris looked like he would rather be somewhere else. His fellow co-worker was currently proposing a new idea for their in-development Ace G5 and that was to add a mirror feature to the camera application. Personally, Kris found it a ridiculous idea because a physical mirror exists for a reason but Kris’ policy was to listen to every employee’s suggestions no matter how absurd they were.

Mind drifting off to dreamland, he imagined having a picnic with Junmyeon together beside an enormous tree on a bright sunny day. Junmyeon would be reading a book and Kris would be resting on the other male’s lap, eyes closed. Then Junmyeon would touch his face to wake him up and feed him some sandwiches that the pale male prepared beforehand. Kris would act shy at first but then relented when Junmyeon showed him a cute pout. Kris then opened his mouth widely but the food did not go to his mouth. A soft slap was felt on his lap and Kris opened his eyes to see Chanyeol frowning at him and he looked around to see his co-workers throwing him strange stares. Even his co-worker paused his presentation, giving him a concerned glance.

Smiling sheepishly at them, he sincerely apologized and told him to continue. As the presentation continued, Kris felt a vibration in his pocket and instantly checked it. He was thrilled to see a text message from Kyungsoo saying that he witnessed Junmyeon laughing loudly while reading a book. The trio were having their dinner quietly last week when Kris noticed Junmyeon’s eyes lingering on Kyungsoo’s book on the table. Remembering that Junmyeon loves to read, Kris convinced Kyungsoo to lend some of his books to the pale male, hoping it would bring smiles to the latter’s face. Smiling to himself, Kris looked up and saw Chanyeol staring angrily at him. Everyone, including the boss, was supposed to have their phones switched off or set to silent, and was also not supposed to entertain any messages and calls unless they were emergencies. Kris merely ignored his best friend and tried to pay attention to the presentation but he could not find himself to focus. Not when he was currently imagining Junmyeon laughing his melodious laugh as his eyes crinkled into tiny crescents while reading a book.

After the meeting was (finally) over, Kris checked his phone once more for any new text messages, barely paying attention to the conversation that Chanyeol and Jessica were having. Realizing that he could already go home, he bade the duo goodbye before quickly leaving.

Chanyeol frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Jessica asked.

“I may be seeing things but….is Kris actually skipping?” Chanyeol rubbed his eyes and watched again but no, he was not imagining things.

Sighing, Chanyeol added, “Kris has been quite distracted lately and he has been behaving quite weirdly….like a high school girl with a crush.”

Jessica covered her mouth as she chuckled softly, “Well, you may not be entirely wrong.”

* * *

The drive back home had Kris smiling broadly, really excited to return home. At a red light, Kris glanced at the seat beside him with a plastic bag filled with a dozen red apples perched on it. He remembered about the time during high school when Junmyeon brought an apple for lunch and attempted to make a heart shape by biting on it but failed to do so. Sitting across from him on the table, Kris was able to see the cute pout that automatically formed in his face. The pale male always does that when things did not go his way. Kris found it to be a really adorable habit and he was lucky that Junmyeon tend be quite clumsy and make plenty of slip-ups.

Urgh how he wish he could kiss that pout away.

* * *

Kyungsoo could have sworn he had been seeing things. He became suspicious when he heard some sounds in the kitchen and carefully walked towards it. Poking his head into the kitchen, he gaped in shock when he saw Kris peeling apples of all things.

“Why are you acting so shocked, Soo? Really, I’m hurt,” Kris _pouted_ at him. Okay, something was definitely wrong with this picture, Kyungsoo thought.

“I’m sorry it’s just…you never stepped into the kitchen unless it’s to check the fridge or place your dishes on the sink,” Kyungsoo replied. “And you’re bleeding! Have you ever peeled apples before?”

Kyungsoo tried to take the knife away but the taller stopped him.

“Relax, Soo. I’ve got the hang of it.” Kyungsoo shot a worried glance at Kris as the taller continued to peel the apple with struggles and wincing when it accidentally cut his fingers. At this rate, his entire hand would be dripping with blood and Kyungsoo could only helplessly stare.

Kyungsoo heaved a sigh of relief when Kris finally stopped but the shorter man was confused on why some apples were left unpeeled. Kris washed the blood off his hands while Kyungsoo offered to transfer the apples, both unpeeled and peeled to a bowl and place them on a tray afterwards.

“Why are you doing this?” Kyungsoo finally asked and was taken aback when Kris _winked_ at him. Seriously, Kris had never done things like these before and it really caught him off guard. Kyungsoo merely watched him in shock as Kris left the kitchen with the tray, shaking his head slightly when the taller was no longer in his sight.

_Seriously, this guy must be really special to him._

Standing in front of Junmyeon’s room, Kris knocked a couple of times before entering. He tried to hide a huge smile when he saw the pretty male reading a book while leaning his back against the headboard of his bed. Kris remembered how much of a bookworm Junmyeon was and he was pleased to know that he had not changed since then. He mentally noted to take him out to buy some books someday.

The taller carefully set the tray on the table and sat by Junmyeon’s bed. “I’ve brought some apples for you.”

Kris’ statement caught the other’s attention and Junmyeon merely shot him a cautious glance. Thankfully, all the bruises on his skin had healed fully and Kris was glad to see that. Clearing his throat, Kris picked an unpeeled apple from the bowl and grew nervous at what he was about to do. 

 _Here goes nothing_. Kris took a deep breath before biting down the apple. Gazing up, he noticed how Junmyeon was watching him intently, with a sliver of confusion. The watchful eyes of his audience served to rile him up and he became more determined in his work.

Seconds later, Kris was overjoyed to find out that he had successfully carved a heart shape on the apple and proudly presented it to Junmyeon who simply scowled at him. Thinking that the other was not able to see the shape clearly, Kris brought the apple closer but was caught by surprise when the pale male flinched and slapped the apple off his hand, making it fly away and land on the floor with an audible thud.

“What the hell are you up to?” Junmyeon shouted.

Shocked, Kris regained his composure enough to respond, “I-I was just…trying to show you something. A heart shape on an apple.”

“Why?”

“I just wanted to cheer you up.”

Junmyeon rolled his eyes. “I want to go home.”

“But you live here now. You _are_ home,” Kris tried to reason.

“This is not my home! This is a hellhole that I’m forced to live in because you kidnapped me!” Junmyeon hissed.

Kris sighed exasperatedly. “Junmyeon, you got it all wrong-”

“Don’t call my name like you know me! You don’t know me!” The harsh words pierced Kris’ heart like a dagger. “I want Yixing! Bring me back to Yixing!”

“Listen, Zhang Yixing sold you off!”

“That’s nonsense! I’m not some piece of object to be sold. And Yixing would never do something horrible like that!” When Kris was about to open his mouth, Junmyeon covered his own ears before yelling, “I love Yixing and Yixing loves me! Don’t get in the way of our love!”

Kris reached out but the pale male inched backwards stubbornly.

“I thought you’re a nice person, Kris,” Junmyeon said quietly. “But you’re evil. You kept me in this house and treat me like I’m some kind of a human pet. You have some crazy fetish, Kris. I’m going to get out of here if that’s the last thing I do.”

Kris tried to approach once more and almost jumped out of his skin after Junmyeon screamed at him to go away. Without a doubt, he was shocked and he quickly obeyed. As he placed his hand on the doorknob, he glanced at the other male sadly.

“Please eat something,” Kris said quietly. Hearing no response, he opened the door and closed it behind him, looking slightly distraught. He shifted his gaze to see Kyungsoo giving him a concerned look.

Not wanting his friend to be worried about him, Kris forced a small smile and quickly headed to his room before the other could shoot him any questions. As he hurried to his room, he kept thinking why Junmyeon was still thinking about Yixing who had been treating him cruelly for a long time and wondered when Junmyeon would finally open his heart for him because Kris would treat him infinitely better than Yixing would ever do.

_Why are you still in love with a man who’s done nothing but make you miserable? Why can’t you open your eyes to see his true colours? Why can’t you pay attention and look at the person who’s been kind towards you all this while?_

* * *

Inside his room, Junmyeon grasped the paring knife situated on the tray with a twisted smile on his face.


	7. Escape

“Jagiya, I’m so glad that you’re doing well in school. Me? I’m making lunch now.” Kyungsoo cheerfully chatted over the phone, his hand gripping his phone which was pressed to his ear while the other hand was gripping the handle of a sizzling pan.

“What? Your teacher is so weird I swear-” Kyungsoo stiffened when he felt a cold metal resting against his throat.

With a shaky voice, Kyungsoo spoke to his phone, “J-Jagiya, I got to go. Bye…”

Behind him, his assailant spoke, “Open the gate. Now.”

Gulping, Kyungsoo quickly obeyed his orders and pressed a button on the wall, opening the gate. He jumped when he heard the sound of a knife dropping to the floor with a loud clang. Kyungsoo panted heavily as he watched Junmyeon running out of the house in just a simple T-shirt and shorts without even bothering with footwear.

Slowly regaining his composure, Kyungsoo reached out for his phone.

“Kris...Junmyeon has escaped.”

* * *

Even though his feet hurt from making contact with the hard gravel of the ground, Junmyeon did not care and continued running until he reached his destination. Since it was in the afternoon now, Yixing would still be at work so he headed straight to his lover’s office building.

Once he arrived, he barged into the building, ignoring the staff who was questioning his presence. Before he could even reach to the elevator, he was pushed back by some of the staff members.

“Let me go!” Junmyeon struggled wildly in the tight hold as people stared at him.

“What’s going on here?” Junmyeon recognized that voice and heaved a sigh in relief.

“Chen!”

“Junmyeon?” Chen made a gesture to the people restraining Junmyeon to release him and approached his boss’ former fiancé. “What’re you doing here?”

“I want to see Yixing! Is he here?”

“No, he went out. He didn’t tell me where he was going…” Chen trailed off as his eyes gazed down to Junmyeon’s bruised feet. “Why are you not wearing any shoes? You’re injured!”

“That doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I want to see Xing right now. Please Chen…bring me to Xing,” Junmyeon pleaded as he gripped Chen’s hand.

Chen gave a sympathetic glance at the pale male. He knew that Junmyeon would be in great denial about Yixing selling him because he was so blindly in love with the Chinese man.

“I’m sorry, Junmyeon-”

“No! I need to see him! You have to help me, Chen. Please. You’re my only hope. Please, Jongdae,” Junmyeon insisted, tears brimming in his eyes.

Sighing, Chen gave in, “Fine. I’ll inform him to meet us.”

Chen was taken aback when he was engulfed into a tight hug by the older. “Thank you, Chen! I knew I could count on you!”

Smiling, Chen told him, “Sure. Anything for you. Now, let’s get you some shoes, shall we?” 

* * *

“Soo, stay in the house. Just in case he comes back. I’ll go look for him and bring him back safely,” Kris told his friend before hanging up his phone. Luckily, it was his lunch break so his work was not interrupted. Running his fingers through his hair, Kris sighed in frustration. To think that Junmyeon actually kept his words of escaping.

Sensing his friend’s distress, Chanyeol approached his friend, “Is someone missing? I can help you!”

Not even asking him how his best friend came to that conclusion, Kris accepted his help since two pairs of eyes searching would be more effective than just one pair. After they reached the city square, they decided to split up to cover more ground and agreed to meet there afterwards. 

Searching aimlessly for the pale male, Kris almost caught his breath in his throat when he spotted someone that he had been trying to avoid for a long time. After years of not keeping in contact with him, they crossed paths again. By some cruel twist of fate.

There, standing a few feet from him was his old friend.

Zhang Yixing.


	8. Reunion

Standing in front of his mother’s grave, Yixing gripped a bouquet of white roses with a solemn expression on his face. The wind picked up, blowing his dark hair across his forehead and making the lapels of his coat to flap gently.

“My life has become like this all because you betrayed me. I trusted you. I used to think you would never leave me. But I was wrong. You never cared for me all this while. I hate you…I hate you so much!” Yixing scolded his late mother as he crouched to place the bouquet down, holding back his tears.

“Enjoy these flowers,” Yixing seethed.

* * *

As the car was driven back to his workplace, Yixing stared at the scenery through the car window with an emotionless expression on his face. His gaze then rested on a woman holding a boy’s hand. The boy was hugging a huge plushie close to him, as if afraid that he would lose it. As the pair was walking, the boy shifted his attention to a clown who was handing out free balloons. He tugged on the woman’s hand (presumably his mother’s hand) and pointed at the direction of the clown before his mother happily nodded and took a balloon to give it to her son. The entire exchange brought a faint smile to Yixing’s face before he caught himself and turned his glance away from the scene.

“Tao, drop me here.”

Not even refuting his master’s unusual request, Tao stopped the car. Yixing draped his coat over his shoulder and took a deep breath before walking into the vast amount of space that was filled with people. Since it was lunchtime, the city square was bustling with activity, with people heading towards food stores for a meal.

Yixing was aimlessly walking when he spotted a tall, blonde man running around frantically, as if in search for someone. He appeared to be young but maybe he already had a child and his child was missing? However, upon closer inspection, Yixing felt like he recognized that man. The other person froze when they shared eye contact with each other, the taller man’s eyes widening in shock.

The stranger murmured his name as if he had known him for a long time and Yixing frowned at that, wondering who this person was for calling out his name so casually as if they were close friends. Yixing squinted his eyes. On second thought, the stranger did look familiar.

* * *

This was something that Kris had very badly tried to avoid for years but fate seemed to think otherwise and here they were, former best friends standing opposite each other, gazes locked. This was the first time that they were facing each other since their friendship had abruptly ended in their classroom years ago.

Fate must be telling him that he could not escape from this forever and Kris felt that this meant that he had to face this head-on. Taking a deep breath, Kris bravely stepped forward and confidently called out his former best friend’s name.

“Yixing. Do you remember me?” When he did not get any reply from the dubious man before him, Kris continued, “We attended the same high school together. Back then, my name was Kevin Li. But I go by ‘Kris Wu’ now.”

For some reason, Kris grew nervous after he introduced himself and half-heartedly hoped that Yixing would not remember so that they would go back to pretending they never knew each other. But at the same time, he wanted Yixing to remember as well. Silence hung in the air as Yixing continued to stare at him quizzically.

Relief washed over him when he saw Yixing’s eyes lit up in recognition.

“Ah, Kevin Li. I remember you. You’re that wannabe gangster whose parents don’t give two shits about,” Yixing spoke haughtily.

At that, Kris gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly, anger brewing over him. To think that Yixing had only grown worse since the last time they had met.

“You changed your name? No wonder I thought this Kris Wu looked a little familiar,” Yixing recalled seeing the name plastered over the front pages of the newspapers when they were reporting about some news about a phone brand named Ace. “No matter how many times you change your name, you’re still going to be a loser, you know that? Your so-called Ace phone is a complete joke and can’t even compare to my multi-billionaire company.”

Yixing smirked haughtily as he watched Kris trying to contain his anger. To be honest, Yixing was definitely surprised. When provoked, the old Kevin would have lashed out at him, throwing the first punch. The Kevin Li he knew was easily rattled. It seemed that Kevin had grown softer and more patient over the years, the total opposite of the hot-tempered and cold boy back in high school.

_Weak…_

Too bad, he preferred the old Kevin. Yixing’s expression darkened as he recalled some of the sour memories from his high school days.

“You know, I trusted you back then but you of all people broke it. You tried to steal Junmyeon from me back then. Even if Junmyeon could see you now, he would never like a stupid giant like you. But oh well, Junmyeon is no longer my problem anyway.”

At Yixing’s nonchalance, Kris really felt like hitting him on the face right then and there but he controlled himself. A phone started to ring and Yixing recognized it as his own before fishing his pocket for his phone.

“What is it, Chen? Meet you in the EXODUS Café? What for?” Yixing frowned at his servant’s sudden request but soon relented, thinking that he could use an iced chocolate. “Okay. I’ll be there.”

Yixing hung up his phone and raised his head to glare at Kris who was still standing in front of him. He proceeded to leave but not without leaving his former best friend with a warning.

“Don’t you ever cross paths with me again, Kris Wu.”

Kris simply remained on his spot as Yixing walked past him, the air surrounding the shorter male filled with such poise and arrogance. What had happened to his old friend? Till now, Kris still could not figure out why Yixing suddenly changed his personality.

His mind then drifted to the name of the café that the other uttered during his phone call. It sounded so familiar…

Kris snapped in realization as he remembered that café being a regular hangout for Yixing, Junmyeon and he as a trio during their high school days. Figuring that that could be a hint to Junmyeon’s whereabouts, Kris turned on his heel and rushed to make it there in time.


	9. True Feelings

****

Four years working as Zhang Yixing’s butler, Chen had become accustomed to his master’s strictness and cold-heartedness. Yixing was the type of person who would expect the best performance from all of his employees even when they were having an off day. Once an employee slipped up, they would be expected to leave effectively immediately. Forget about second chances. Above all, Yixing kept his professional and personal life completely separate.

Not that he had much of a personal life anyway as far as Chen was concerned. Yixing’s mother had passed away when he was in high school and currently, his father was bed-ridden in a hospital after suffering from a major stroke the year before. His father lost his ability to speak and movement of his limbs. Due to this, he had to step down and pass his CEO position to Yixing. And, ever since then, Yixing had fully dedicated his hours to work to the point where he must have completely forgotten about his lover at home.

Chen was fully observant of the relationship between Yixing and Junmyeon. The latter would fulfil his duties as a caring and supportive lover by waking Yixing up, preparing meals for him and cleaning his clothes among other things. Junmyeon was quite adamant in fulfilling these duties that he refused the help of the maids and servants. Meanwhile, Yixing would return his lover’s affections with a grunt or a chaste kiss on the lips. Even while preparing for their wedding, Junmyeon had to take care of it all by himself without his partner by his side. Yixing merely paid for the expenses and focusing fully on his own work. It was obvious that the two were drifting apart. And soon, Junmyeon caught on to that too.

When Junmyeon told him that he had ideas on rekindling his relationship with Yixing, Chen was doubtful that they would yield fruitful results, especially since they involved the pale-skinned male tripping over air or buying Yixing’s favourite champagne which was crazy expensive. However, after seeing Junmyeon’s hopeful face, he smiled and gave the other his support. Chen had no idea what happened but one day, he witnessed Yixing yelling at Junmyeon for being useless and suddenly, Yixing wanted to call it quits. Chen was purely shocked when Yixing made the decision to sell Junmyeon when their wedding was drawing close. Chen had tried to change the other’s mind but the Chinese male was persistent so Chen had no choice but to obey his master’s orders.

Even so, Chen made sure that the buyer would be a decent one, not one who would potentially sexually abuse the virgin Junmyeon and prayed that the older would be in safe hands with Mr. D.O. He had felt guilty for destroying Junmyeon’s phone as per Yixing’s request so that Junmyeon would never be able to get back to his old life. He had wondered about the state of the pale male since he was forced to leave and was caught off guard when he saw the other barging into the building out of the blue.

And now, here he was, fidgeting uncontrollably as he shot worried glances at Junmyeon who was sitting across from him, gazing expectantly at the café’s entrance as they waited for Yixing’s arrival. Knowing the Chinese male, he would certainly act unfavourably towards the pale male’s presence and would surely direct some unkind words to his former fiancé, and Chen did not want to see innocent Junmyeon break even further.

“Hey, Junmyeon. Do you want to have a drink?” Chen spoke, at last.

Junmyeon shook his head before shifting his attention back to the entrance, eagerly anticipating Yixing’s arrival.

Hesitantly, Chen said, “Junmyeon. Listen, I don’t think this is a good idea. I know it’s very hard for you to accept but Yixing did sell you off and-”

“No!” Junmyeon interrupted him. “It must be a huge mistake! And Xing still loves me! He would never do something as despicable as that!”

Sighing, Chen decided to keep quiet. To be honest, Chen felt bad for Junmyeon but he figured that the latter needed to hear it from Yixing himself even though he would surely end up extremely broken-hearted afterwards.

When he saw a familiar male at the entrance of the café, Chen stood up and waved to gain the Chinese male’s attention.

“I’ve not been to this place for a long time. Chen, order me an iced chocolated, extra sugar,” Yixing trailed off before his gaze turned cold when he saw another presence on the table. “What is _he_ doing here?”

“Xing!” Junmyeon perked up and approached him, reaching out to grab his arm. “I miss you~ let’s go back home together.”

Slapping his arm away, Yixing glared at him, “You have your own home now. Get away from me.”

“W-What? Why are you saying this? Don’t you love me?” Tears already started forming in Junmyeon’s eyes.

“I no longer do! You’re nothing but a burden to me!”

“B-But I still do! I don’t mean to trouble you, Xing! I’ll change for you! Please let me go with you! This is all a mistake!”

“You’re right! Our entire relationship is a mistake! So I sold you off to get rid of you permanently!” Yixing exploded, not caring that his outburst gained the attention of the other patrons in the café.

At this point, tears started flowing down Junmyeon’s cheeks as he continued to beg, “Xing…please let me return with you! Please give me another chance…”

Reaching his boiling point, Yixing grunted loudly and violently shoved Junmyeon, making the crying male stumble backwards. Luckily, Chen caught him just in time.

“This is all a joke! A waste of time! I can’t believe I got engaged to you! Chen! To think you would entertain this sorry excuse of a human being! You’ll have this month’s salary cut for your dumb mistake!” Yixing spat before glaring at his ex-fiancé. “Just be glad I didn’t sell you off for prostitution!”

A pair of loud footsteps approached them and stopped near them, and Yixing whipped his head around to come face to face with his former best friend and once again, saw red.

“I thought I told you not to cross paths with me again!”

Ignoring Yixing, Kris glanced past him to look at the crying Junmyeon who visibly trembled at the sight of him. His heart ached when he saw Junmyeon being utterly terrified of him. The pale male weakly grabbed Yixing’s arm as he murmured, “Xing…please…please don’t hand me over to that man. I-I don’t want to live with him.”

Confusion marred Yixing’s face for a moment as he glanced between the Junmyeon and Kris before realization dawned on him. Laughing a scornful laugh, he exclaimed, “I should’ve known!”

Tugging on his sleeve once more, Junmyeon begged him once more, “Xing…I can’t live without you. Please _please_ take me back…”

With a deadpanned expression, Yixing turned to Junmyeon and said, “Then why don’t you kill yourself?”

 Shocked beyond words, Junmyeon released his grip and stared at his former fiancé with a wide-eyed expression. His lover…no former lover was dead serious. He no longer recognized this man before him. This was not a joke at all. This was reality. His former lover did not love him anymore. His worst nightmares had come true. Unable to deal with it anymore, Junmyeon ran out of the café, pushing the crowd of people out of the way.

Kris was about to chase after him when Yixing’s voice stopped him.

“You never changed, Kevin Li. Still chasing after your first love when it’s very clear that he won’t ever reciprocate your feelings,” Yixing shook his head mockingly. “Of course, even after all these years, you still are hopelessly in love with him. It’s really low of you to ask your friend to purchase him.”

Yixing did not expect a hard punch on his jaw, causing him to stumble backwards and fall on the floor.

“You’re the one low enough to sell off your own fiancé!” Kris yelled at him, his anger had reached the tipping point a while ago. “You’re one horrible and evil person! You’re the one who’s been causing the bruises on Jun’s body, right!? I don’t know what the hell happened to you all these years but I’m _glad_ that Junmyeon escaped from your evil clutches!”

“Cos _I’m_ going to be one who’ll take good care of him!” Kris declared before bolting out of the café.

Yixing watched in disdain as Kris left, feeling a sharp pain on his jaw.

“Are you okay?” Chen asked with concern to which Yixing responded with a groan.

“Of course I’m not okay,” Yixing spat. His mind whirred over what Kris had said earlier and scoffed, “His knight in shining armour mentality is so irritating even after all these years…”

The injured male grew irritated at the slowly forming bruise because it would surely affect his important meeting for that week.

* * *

Kris frantically searched for Junmyeon and almost jumped out of his skin when he spotted the smaller male dashing into a busy street. In fear that he would get caught into a car accident, Kris quickly ran. With his long legs, he was able to catch up with Junmyeon on time before grabbing the tiny male by the arm and pulling him into his chest before getting hit by a moving car. The angry driver honked in response as he drove past the pair. Sighing in relief, Kris glanced down and saw the pale male crying with his face pressed against his chest and instinctively hugged him more tightly.

“It’s okay. Everything will be alright,” Kris whispered as he rubbed Junmyeon’s back. At first, Junmyeon resisted the hug but soon, he gave in and accepted Kris’ comfort. Kris smiled widely at Junmyeon welcoming his hug and hoped that this moment would last forever when he felt a small tap on his shoulder.

“Hey,” Chanyeol panted heavily, eyeing the road nervously. “It’s a touching scene and all but let’s quickly leave before anyone alerts the police or something.”

Kris then registered the deafening sounds of car honks and loud curses from the drivers and pedestrians which he somehow tuned out a while ago. He then realized that he and Junmyeon were standing in the middle of the road, disrupting the traffic.

Chanyeol generously offered to drive the pair back home. Kris thanked his friend and was about to walk forward when he felt Junmyeon clinging his arm tightly.

“Please…don’t leave me alone,” Junmyeon gazed at the taller male with bloodshot eyes.

“I won’t. I promise,” Kris said before patting the other’s head with his free hand.

Sitting comfortably on the leather back seats, Kris smiled softly at the smaller male leaning against him, not letting go of his arm.


	10. The First Time We Met

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Kris during his high school days will referred to as Kevin.

_It was lunch break and here Kevin was, sitting down at their usual table in the library with all his materials and stationery spread across the desk. Yixing had informed him that he would be running late because of an impromptu student council meeting. So, Kevin was just minding his own business when suddenly a petite boy hastily took the empty seat beside him. It startled Kevin a lot of course and he involuntarily threw a dirty glare at the intruding boy, hoping he would go away since it always worked on everyone (other than Yixing)._

_But this time, surprisingly, it didn’t._

_“Hey, it’s annoying when some people can’t seem to understand things, don’t you agree?” the boy pointedly ignored his glare and leaned closer to him, initiating the conversation. On closer look, the boy had extremely pale skin and he looked quite effeminate with his big eyes and soft pink lips that looked so kissable-Wait what!? Where did that come from?_

_Kevin was so caught up in his thoughts that he yelped in surprise when a white bunny was shoved in front of his face._

_“Isn’t he just so cute?” the pretty boy cooed as he rubbed his cheek against the bunny’s fur. The creature merely wiggled its nose and looked around his surroundings curiously. Well, it did look a little cute, Kevin thought. But weren’t pets not allowed in the school compound? And the bunny did strike an uncanny resemblance with the person holding it, Kevin couldn’t help but notice._

_“Here, shake his hand!” The pretty boy held the bunny’s paw for Kevin to shake it which he did, gingerly…_

_“His name is Michael. Say hello, Michael!” The pale boy introduced the bunny as he waved the bunny’s paw._

_“Michael?” Kevin snorted._

_“Yeah you got a problem with that?” The pretty boy snapped, much to Kevin’ amusement. “It’s not like ‘Kevin’ is any better of a name.”_

_Kevin’s eyes bulged at that and this time, the pretty boy scoffed. “It’s stated on your textbook. Don’t flatter yourself.”_

_"I can't believe that we're not allowed to bring cute and fuzzy animals to school. The person who made that rule must be really heartless indeed," the boy continued as he gently patted the bunny's head._

_Suddenly, there was a sound of firm footsteps, which belonged to Mr Choi, their school’s disciplinary teacher, who stood at the entrance of the library, his stern eyes searching intently. Panicking, Pretty boy hurriedly hid the bunny inside his uniform blazer and ducked under the table, all while grabbing Kevin’s hand so that he would not fall off and blew his cover. Their sudden skinship made Kevin make a weird sound in his throat and he was surprised at how soft the other’s skin felt. Once Mr Choi walked past them and turned a corner before disappearing, Pretty boy finally lifted himself from his hiding place._

_“Phew! That was close!” Pretty boy darted his eyes back at the direction where Mr Choi headed and hurriedly stood up. “See ya around!”_

_And with that, the tiny boy left in a rush, most likely because he wanted to avoid Mr Choi. Kevin didn’t blame him. That teacher was a bad news. He had once forced students who broke the footwear code to walk barefoot throughout the whole day! Unbelievable!_

_“Hey Kevin!” The sudden shout made Kevin jolt in surprise. Yixing stared at him strangely, giving him a dimpled smile. “Why are you so jumpy?”_

_“Ah nothing. It’s just…some kid sat beside me for a small chat before darting off to somewhere…”Kevin mumbled and he realized that his heart was beating rapidly at the thought of the pale boy._

_“Wait. Someone actually started a conversation with you?” Yixing stared at the taller boy with a look of childlike wonder. “Looks like there is someone else in this school besides me who’s not afraid of you after all!”_

_And dang it, Yixing was right. People would either run the opposite direction or avoid Kevin’s gaze when they bumped onto him in the school hallways. Something about Kevin having a resting bitch face._

_A broad smile filled Kevin’s face._

* * *

_Ever since their brief encounter, Kevin’s thoughts was dominated by the bunny-loving pretty boy. It was during the lunch break that Kevin came across the pale-skinned boy again. Kevin and Yixing was just crossing the school courtyard to get back to class. As usual, other students who were walking past the pair greeted Yixing politely but stared at the giant beside him in fright. Kevin mentally sighed. Was he really that scary?_

_The pair was just a few feet away from entering the school building when they noticed a huge commotion close by. Concerned that there were students being up to no good, Yixing approached the group to investigate with Kevin following him closely behind. Kevin’s eyes widened with pleasant surprise as he met the person who had been occupying his mind as of late. The pale-skinned male was holding the white bunny from their library encounter and ordering the cooing students around him to pay up if they wanted to pet the bunny or present it with gifts like carrots and water. A smile automatically filled Kevin’s face, showing his gums._

_“Not again,” Yixing sighed openly. Kevin cocked an eyebrow at his best friend._

_“You know him?”_

_“Yeah. He’s always bringing stray animals to school. I thought he’d learnt his lesson after the three kittens, two hamsters and one goldfish but apparently not,” Yixing explained and without hesitation, he neared the group of students to break them up._

_“Okay guys. Nothing to see here. Go back to class,” Yixing calmly chided them. The students surrounding the pale boy ran away in fright but not just because the student council president caught them but also because of his intimidating best friend._

_“Junmyeon, I thought I had already warned you about this,” Yixing said as he crossed his arms sternly._

_The pale boy – Junmyeon frowned and pouted defiantly at him before averting his gaze to Kevin. “I can’t believe you betrayed me!”_

_Kevin was speechless for a moment as he came face to face with a pair of wide, tearful eyes but luckily Yixing came for his rescue._

_“He doesn’t have to tell me anything. You should know the consequences of bringing stray animals to the school compound. Or do you want me to repeat them over again?” Yixing said firmly._

_To the pair’s surprise, Junmyeon openly scoffed at that statement before holding the white bunny in front of them._

_“Look at this face! How could you resist the eyes of such an innocent creature?” Junmyeon cutely said. And wow Kevin had never been so enamoured with anything than he was right then. And it was not from the bunny, but from the pale boy._

_“Fine. I won’t report you to Mr Choi. I’ll give you another chance. Don’t blow it,” Yixing gave in._

_Since he won, Junmyeon broke into a huge grin and suddenly, Kevin’s chest grew tight._

_What’s happening to him?_

* * *

_Kevin could not count the number of times he had intentionally walked past the school courtyard just to observe Junmyeon taking care of the white bunny by feeding it carrots and playing with it. Kevin’s heart was not at peace unless he saw such a tender sight at least once a day. Unable to keep this unhealthy obsession to himself anymore, Kevin cornered Yixing to an isolated part of the school._

_“So you’re telling me your heart just can’t stop beating fast every time you see him?” Yixing repeated his words slowly and Kevin really felt like banging his head on the wall. He really sounded ridiculous for admitting such thing openly._

_“I believe that’s called ‘love’, my friend”, Yixing said after a moment. Kevin glanced at his friend before groaning. Yixing chuckled at his reaction._

_“So who’s the lucky guy?” Yixing teased the taller boy. Actually, Yixing already knew who the ‘lucky guy’ was but pretended not to know. “Is it…Junmyeon?”_

_In an instant, Kevin’s face turned beet red and Yixing guffawed at the rare and hilarious sight._

_“Looks like our cold wolf Kevin has a heavy crush on the cute bunny Junmyeon!” Yixing said in glee and Kevin clamped the other’s mouth shut before other people overheard and spread it._

* * *

“Kris, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Kyungsoo began. The doe-eyed male had a concerned expression on his face. Kris wanted to wave his hand at the younger to not worry about him but currently, his hands were occupied with carrying a medium-sized cage holding a grey bunny.

“Don’t worry, Soo. Junmyeon would surely cheer up with this,” Kris smiled widely, his optimism shining through his broad smile.

“It’s just…” Kyungsoo paused to find the right words to say. “Junmyeon might not react the way you expect him to and when that happens, you must not take it to heart.”

“I’m 100% certain that won’t happen!” Kris responded back with vigour.

Sighing, Kyungsoo placed a comforting hand on the taller’s shoulder. “Fine. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

Before entering Junmyeon’s room, Kris knocked on the door twice. Even though he came in with a wide smile, it faltered as soon as he saw the younger’s condition. Lately, the pale boy had been looking quite skinny and his eyes always held this lifeless expression. As if he was slowly dying inside.

Junmyeon seemed to have a fixed position for a while now too, which was to stare through the window with a blank look, his tray of food on the table untouched for hours.

“Hello,” Kris wanted to keep his greeting lively but it sounded like a croak. Whatever it sounded like, it attracted Junmyeon’s attention and now the pale male turned to stare at him indifferently, not bothering to return the greeting but Kris had been used to that by now.

“I have a surprise for you!” Kris stopped near Junmyeon before placing down the cage and kneeling beside it. He eagerly watched Junmyeon’s reaction as he opened the cage door which revealed a small grey bunny. Its ears were flopped down on its head and it kept wiggling its nose cutely. The bunny crawled to Junmyeon before hopping to his lap and nuzzling his chest.

Happy that the bunny was acting so clingy, Kris thought this was the first step to Junmyeon overcoming his week-long depression. However, his happiness was short-lived.

“Are you mocking me?”

The huge smile on Kris’ face faltered. He did not understand a word that came out of the younger’s mouth. Why wasn’t he happy? Didn’t he like cute and small animals?

“An insignificant bunny is not going cure my broken heart magically,” Junmyeon continued coldly as he shooed the bunny away that scurried away back to its cage because of the rejection. Junmyeon continued to stare through the window lifelessly as if there was no other occupants in the room.

And Kris has had enough.

“I just wanted to cheer you up! How much longer are you going to mope around? Yix-Your ex-fiancé has already said to your face that he doesn’t love you anymore! Why can’t you just move on?” Just like that, Kris exploded.

However, Junmyeon remained unfazed by the other’s outburst.

“Let me ask you something. Have you ever been in love?” Junmyeon asked emotionlessly. When he did not hear any response, he smiled a wry smile. “I thought so.”

“You don’t know how it feels like to be deeply in love with someone. To invest your emotions in someone for years. All those time and efforts that you spent caring for someone. When it hurt being mistreated by him, but you still did not give up on the bond you shared. Or at least, you thought you shared. You gave your entire being to him only to be betrayed in the worst way possible. To be sold like a fucking object. Like selling an old phone that you don’t want anymore. How humiliating and pathetic is that?”

A tear flowed down Junmyeon’s pale cheek. “How did you think it felt like to find out that your special someone does not even love you back?”

More tears started to fall and Kris instinctively reached out to wipe them away but the pale male distanced himself from his touch.

“Just leave. Please.”

Kris wanted to speak up but the words got caught up in his throat and he stood up and was about to leave when the broken male spoke again.

“And take that thing with you.”

Kris glanced back at the pale male who had not budged from his position near the window. The tall male bent down to scoop up the cage into his arms and silently left the room. As he closed the door quietly behind him, Kris leaned his back on it and closed his eyes.

_Junmyeon, the person I’m in love with is you. And it pains me inside to see you hurt and broken like this._

A stray tear fell down Kris’ cheek.

 

 


	11. Friend

The tennis ball bounced off the court as Yixing hit it with all of his might. Years of pent-up agitation and frustration were channelled into this friendly game of tennis with his new business clients who watched in awe at his tremendous demonstration of strength and skill.

“My, my, Mr. Zhang. You really don’t pull your punches, do you?” the man standing at the opposite end of the court whistled as he watched the tennis ball hit the fence with a loud thud.

“I warned you,” another man said in glee as he went to Yixing’s side and draped an arm over him. “Mr. Zhang is serious about everything. And I mean _everything_.”

Here they were, playing doubles in tennis before their formal meeting commenced. It was usual for business clients to bond with him in the form of a recreational activity or drinks in a bar. Secretly, it was test that Yixing had to pass so that they would approve of him before deciding that they would sign a partnership with him.

Yixing was glad that they chose tennis because he finally had an outlet to vent his frustration without appearing to be someone with serious anger management issues. And to be honest, his opponents were weak. Mr. Choi was incredibly incompetent in tennis to register Yixing’s shots until it was too late while Ms. Lee was too busy ogling Yixing and his skills to even participate in the game. Yixing’s partner, Mr. Yoon, however, did not even bother playing and completely relied on Yixing to win the game.

Yixing peeled off Mr. Yoon’s hand from his neck and walked back to his position before taking a ready position. “Let’s get it over and done with.”

The friendly tennis match end with Yixing’s team winning, in which Yixing solely contributed to the victory. After changing out of their tennis outfits, the quartet took a seat together by the pool. Yixing wiped the stray sweat from his brow, which Ms. Lee noticed before wiping the sweat off from his face with her pink towel. The Chinese male had to suppress the urge to yell at her to get out of his personal space. Truthfully, he had done that before to a similarly touchy-feely woman in a business meeting and it resulted in her bawling while his other business clients acted unfavourably to that and changed their minds about their business contract in an instant.

“We have thought about it for a quite long and from today, we’re convinced that you’re a highly ambitious and reliable young man so we have decided to proceed with our agreement,” Mr. Choi said.

“I’m thankful sir,” Yixing abruptly stood up and bowed deeply, hiding a smile that he was able to avoid the woman’s further touches.

“It’s my pleasure. Actually, I’m quite impressed by your accomplishments at such a young age. Your father must have been so proud,” Mr. Choi added.

Yixing stiffened at the mention of his father and just as quickly, put on a stoic face. “He really is, sir.”

“Oh what happened to your handsome face?” Ms. Lee cooed as she gently touched the dark blue bruise on Yixing’s jaw to which the latter subtly winced at. It was one thing to have people touching him without permission but it was a whole another thing to be sympathized. To be pitied. Like he was a weak little boy who could not bear a little amount of pain.

“Ah that looks quite bad,” Mr. Yoon intervened before snapping his fingers. At once, his assistant brought him his luggage and Mr. Yoon retrieved a bottle of ointment from it before handing it over to Yixing. “Here’s our latest product. It has not been released into the market yet but it has already been approved by the state. Take this as a complement and a huge thank you for such a wonderful game.”

Yixing accepted it politely and they continued to chat for another hour before the Chinese male excused himself with the reason that he had an upcoming business meeting with his own employees. Which was a complete lie since the Chinese male did not want to spend a minute longer with them, especially not with the woman touching and caressing his right thigh. After showering and changing into fresh clothes, he called up Tao to fetch him.

* * *

In the car, Yixing stared through his tinted car window and frowned when he saw the reflection of his bruised face glaring back at him. He was then reminded of the sickening encounter with his former best friend days earlier and his mind drifted back to the past.

_“What did you want to see me for, Mrs Hwang?” Yixing asked his homeroom teacher innocently, his posture straight, and his tone light and polite. His other classmates had already left a while ago since it was the last formal lesson for the day but his teacher had requested him to stay behind for an urgent matter._

_“Well, you see, all the marks and rankings have already been calculated for your cohort and I’m pleased to say that our class average has improved. Your class actually placed fourth for the class average!” Mrs Hwang giddily said as if she did not expect this to happen. Yixing could only softly chuckle at that. His teacher can be really adorable at times._

_“But…”Yixing’s ears perked up at the sudden change in tone. “Your classmate Kevin as usual performed very badly and he’s unfortunately pulling down your class average.”_

_“Oh.”_

_“So, I’d like to request of you to befriend Kevin and tutor him since you are after all the student council president and ranked the highest in this class and your cohort. Would you, Yixing?” Mrs Hwang pleaded the Chinese male._

_Not wanting to disappoint his teacher, Yixing immediately nodded and agreed._

_“That’s wonderful! Thank you, Yixing! I’m so grateful!” Mrs Hwang jumped in joy, nearly stumbling to a stack of books on her table in the process._

_“No problem! You can count on me!” Yixing said confidently._

* * *

_Actually, the Chinese male knew that the reason why his homeroom teacher had appointed him as Kevin’s tutor was because she had tried countless times to steer Kevin to the right path and the latest attempt resulted in the delinquent overturning his table and injuring her toe. It totally scared her out of her wits and she decided not to cross paths with him ever again. She also refused to notify the principal about this problem, terrified that they would transfer Kevin to some juvenile prison and had the delinquent curse her whole life._

_The next day, Kevin was not back in his usual seat near the window yet again after recess break and Mrs Hwang requested Yixing to bring him back to class. Sighing, the Chinese male nodded and began on his search for the delinquent. He was walking around the halls when he spotted Kevin accidentally bumping onto a pair of students who were running to class in a hurry. Kevin glared at them intimidatingly and they both flinched in fright and scurried away in fear. Yixing watched as the giant proceeded to head to the school rooftop. Yixing frowned. It seemed that the delinquent was adamant in not attending class._

_Without hesitation, Yixing mustered his courage and followed him. He paused as he witnessed Kevin taking a spot before sitting down in a relaxed position. Since he had wanted to go back to class as soon as possible, Yixing whispered ‘screw it’ to himself before calling out the male’s name._

_“Kevin Li Jiaheng?”_

_As expected, Kevin acted quite rudely towards him, even after Yixing had introduced himself as the student council president. When their exchange seemed to be going nowhere, Yixing went straight to the point and marched towards Kevin._

_Yixing was deeply infuriated when he found out that Kevin was smoking in school and instantly told the taller male off. Yixing had expected the male to be quite hostile towards him but he had not expected him to resort to physical hostility._

_It seemed to hit a sore spot in Kevin when Yixing had mentioned about the other’s parents and the upcoming parent-teacher meeting. As he had a strict upbringing by his parents, Yixing was in disbelief with Kevin’s claim that his parents being absent for these important meetings. That was, until Yixing had heard it from the delinquent’s parents themselves._

_“What? A meeting between parents and teachers?”_

_“Yes, Mrs. Li. And your child is waiting for you and Mr. Li to arrive in school. He has been waiting for 5 hours already,” Yixing tried to talk over the loud commotion in the other line. It seemed that Kevin’s mother was currently in a noisy club or something since he heard the sound of beer glasses clinking._

_“Well, I don’t care. And Jiaheng’s father is in Prague now with his new girlfriend so he’s uncontactable right now. That scumbag. Anyway, I gotta go.”_

_Before Yixing could respond, the call had been abruptly cut off. Yixing was beyond shocked of what he had just heard. He had thought that all parents care a lot about their own children. When Yixing tried to apologize to Kevin, the giant was having none of it and stomped out of the school immediately. Yixing had never felt guiltier._

* * *

_Yixing had implied from his conversation with Kevin that the latter was close with his grandmother. Mrs Hwang was kind enough to look through Kevin’s personal records to tell him that his grandmother was warded in a hospital. Even though it was trespassing on personal privacy, Mrs Hwang was more than glad to help Yixing, happy that the Chinese male was going to such lengths to approach Kevin and gladly helped him._

_‘Well, here goes nothing.’ Yixing took a deep breath and entered the hospital, in search of Kevin’s grandmother’s room._

_Finally, after half an hour, Yixing finally located the room and sighed in relief when he finally did. The hospital was such a maze and he felt uncomfortable with people gawking at him. There was also this girl from the second level shamelessly stalking him. He hoped he had lost her because she was seriously creeping him out._

_Knocking on the door softly, Yixing entered the room with a polite Chinese greeting. He glanced to see Kevin’s grandma resting on her bed peacefully. He carefully approached her and greeted her once more. Her eyes fluttered open before widening in shock. Maybe because he was greeting her in Chinese._

_“I thought I was dreaming when I heard Chinese words. Are you Chinese, boy?” she asked in Chinese._

_Yixing chuckled and nodded. “Yup I’m Chinese! How are you, m’am?”_

_“And a well-mannered one at that. The nurses never asked me that. They probably see me as some frail old lady who they are forced to take care of!”_

_Yixing could not help but smile more widely at that. “Since you’re so energetic, I bet you’re doing great!”_

_“Never been better, child,” she sighed. “What’s your name?”_

_“Zhang Yixing. How about you?”_

_“I’m Li Meili.”_

_“Ah such a pretty name for a pretty woman!”_

_“Young man, you really flatter people! Well, I’d say I look quite good for a 65-year-old woman!”_

_A hand flew to Yixing’s mouth as he gasped in surprise. “65? My, I could’ve sworn you look younger! You look like you’re the same age as my mother.”_

_“Stop it, boy. You’re making me blush,” she paused to observe Yixing’s uniform. “You go to Black Pearl High School?”_

_“Ah yes! I study there!”_

_“Kevin goes there for school too. Do you happen to know my grandson - Kevin Li Jiaheng?”_

_“Of course. We happen to be in the same class!”_

_“So you’re friends with Jiaheng?” she asked hopefully and Yixing could not help but pause and she sighed at that._

_“I knew it. Jiaheng never has friends ever,” she shook her head in disappointment. “I told him many times to be friendly with people and he never listens to me.”_

_“I’m sorry, Mrs Li. It’s just I want to be friends with him but he pushes me away,” Yixing said sadly._

_“So you’re saying you want to be friends with my grandson?” she gazed back at the male hopefully._

_“Why, of course!” Yixing quickly said but he died a little inside. “He has also been performing badly in school and I want to help him.”_

_She gave him a beautiful smile. “Jiaheng is actually a nice boy but he’s not social, you see. His parents neglect him as a child and never gives him the love and affection he needs. That’s why he’s extremely close to me because I listen to him and care about him. When he was young, he was bullied in school. He would tell me how he was always taken advantage of in friendships because he was too nice. So, when his bully stole his beloved alpaca toy and ripped it into pieces, Kevin snapped and beat the boy till the boy bled everywhere. I was immediately contacted to see the principal because his parents couldn’t care less about their own child. Ever since then, poor Jiaheng has trouble making friends and his parents never cared about his grades and performance in school. So he got uninterested in school altogether and started skipping classes and performing badly. I tried so many times, asking him to change his behaviour but he tells me he only needs me in his life! That’s why I’m extremely grateful that you’re willing to give my grandson a chance.”_

_Yixing listened to her attentively and gave her a dimpled smile. “It’s no problem. I’m sorry to hear that Kevin was bullied when he was young. It must have been quite hurtful to be bullied endlessly. So I’d like to help turn his life around. If you’d please help me, Mrs Li. I would like to help Kevin improve on his marks and grades and also help him make more friends. It seems that Kevin would most likely try to work hard if you were to tell him yourself.”_

_“Why…sure young man!”_

_“Great!” Yixing exclaimed. As if on cue, the door opened and Kevin emerged into the room, with the constant frown marring his features. The frown deepened as soon as he set eyes on Yixing._

_“Hey!” Yixing waved at the newcomer cheerfully._

_“What the hell are you doing here?” Kevin yelled._

_“Jiaheng, language! And no shouting!” Mrs Li hissed at her grandson._

_The trio then went on to talk about Kevin’s standing in school. Before he had left the room with Kevin, Yixing made sure to force the giant to promise his grandmother to cooperate with him in order to improve on his academics. After apologizing to Kevin, the two new friends began to keep Kevin’s promise to his grandmother._

* * *

_Even though Kevin tried to escape his tutoring sessions at first, Yixing saw it coming and threatened to call his grandma to inform her that her grandson was intentionally skipping classes and not keeping his promise of studying hard. It was a cheap trick but Yixing had no choice. Besides, the threat actually worked. Aside from tutoring Kevin, Yixing also tagged along with the giant for his daily visits to his grandmother._

_Gradually, Kevin’ results started to improve and his single digit scores became double and then became even better. Yixing swelled with pride having seen Kevin’s tremendous improvements. Not to mention, Yixing had been hanging out with Kevin often in school, spending lunch breaks and studying together._

_No one knew how elated Yixing felt to have a friend to hang out with in school. No one knew that Kevin was Yixing’s first friend. Yixing’s father had countlessly told Yixing that having friends was a complete waste of time. How friends were distractions. How friendships were full of lies and deceit. And that Yixing should only befriend other people when Yixing could exploit them only for his advantage. Yixing believed everything his father had told him but now that he had become friends with Kevin, Yixing felt that his father’s words were wrong. It never crossed Yixing’s mind that Kevin was a distraction or a waste of time. If anything, spending time with Kevin made Yixing feel happier because of the laughs and jokes they shared. Ever since he had become friends with Kevin, Yixing looked forward to school each day. Friendships were amazing and made Yixing worked harder in everything. So, why had his father feeding him misconceptions about friendships?_

_One day, Yixing had arrived home after a normal day at school. He almost jumped out of his skin when he spotted his father sitting on the couch in the living room with a livid expression on his face. Yixing grew nervous because his father had never waited for him to arrive home and this could only mean bad news._

_“Yixing.”_

_“Yes, father?” Yixing gulped as he braced himself._

_“I heard that you’ve been tutoring someone in school?”_

_“Y-Yes.”_

_“Do not stutter with your words, boy! This was not how I raised you to be!” Yixing’s father bellowed._

_Yixing flinched and began to shiver in fright. Ever since he started high school, his father had stopped scolding him since Yixing had been getting perfect grades. Of all things, Yixing did not expect his father to be angry over tutoring._

_“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. And yes, I had been tutoring a classmate,” Yixing responded, trying his best to make his voice steady to avoid being yelled at again._

_“And what exactly do you gain from tutoring a stupid boy?”_

_Yixing did not know why but he felt angry at his father for calling his friend Kevin ‘stupid’. How could he call Kevin names when he never even knew Kevin personally?_

_Taking a deep breath, Yixing answered firmly. “A lot of things, father. Seeing Kevin improve on his marks thanks to my help makes me happy. And Kevin is not stupid. He’s an extremely bright student!”_

_His father scoffed. “That’s bullshit! Teaching students is a teacher’s job, not another student’s! Tutoring is a waste of time!”_

_Yixing clenched his fists as he felt his blood boiling. “Well, I don’t regret it. Besides, I found a friend in Kevin and he has been such a great friend!”_

_Yixing’s father frowned and stood up, his fists clenching. “I already told you that friendships are useless! Friends help you gain nothing! They are distractions, a waste of time and-”_

_“You’re wrong, father! Friendships give me strength. They make me work harder. Even though I only have one friend, I feel like I can count on Kevin. I feel that my whole life is has become more meaningful with true friendships!”_

_“You dare talk back to me!?” Yixing’s father growled at his son._

_Yixing’s eyes widened with fright. “I-I didn’t mean to-”_

_“Show me your hand, Yixing.”_

_“But, father-”_

_“SHOW ME YOUR HAND!”_

_Reluctantly, Yixing held out his hand. He watched helplessly as his father retrieved a metal ruler from his study and mercilessly hit his hand with it repeatedly. Tears brimmed Yixing’s eyes and he shut his eyes tightly, praying for it to be over as the sound of metal striking skin rang in his ears and the impact growing more painful with each hit._

* * *

_“I’m so sorry, Xing Xing. Your father went too far this time,” Yixing’s mother said gently as she bandaged her son’s bleeding hand. She held back her tears at seeing her son’s extremely bruised hand which was caused by her own husband. Her heart ached even more at seeing her own son swallowing back his own tears._

_“It’s okay. It’s my own fault for talking back at father,” Yixing looked sadder as he recalled the events that happened earlier. “I don’t get why father was angry with me for tutoring and for having a friend. I feel so happy whenever I hang out with Kevin. He’s my first friend. So, why was father scolding me for being happy?”_

_Tears started to flow down Yixing’s cheeks and he audibly gasped before furiously wiping off his tears._

_“I’m sorry mama!”_

_Yixing’s mother gently cupped her son’s face. “Why are you apologizing, dear?”_

_“I cried! Boys shouldn’t cry! Father said it makes us look weak!”_

_“No, you don’t look weak,” Yixing’s mother smiled as she gazed lovingly at her son. “Xing Xing, if you cry, it doesn’t make you less of a man.”_

_“Mama!” Yixing continued sobbing as he hugged his mother tightly. Only his mother understood him and cared for him whereas his father was in charge of disciplining him to even show him any affection._

_“Xing Xing, don’t worry. Mama will always be by your side no matter what. Mama will always protect you,” Yixing’s mother hugged her son back as tears flowed down her cheeks as well._

* * *

_Yixing and Kevin were in charge of buying Mrs Hwang’s birthday present so they went to the shopping mall to look for it. While they were searching for the perfect gift, Yixing’s eye caught a shop that was selling beautiful accessories. He dragged the confused Kevin inside the shop and they both purchased matching friendship bracelets._

_Yixing had always wanted to own these bracelets but didn’t because he had no friend to wear it with until he befriended Kevin. Yixing hoped that his friendship with Kevin would last forever. Yixing smiled broadly at the bracelet wrapped around his left wrist but then his mind drifted to his father who would surely disapprove of this._

_A sad smile graced Yixing’s features and Kevin was quick to notice it._

_“Why do you look so sad? Is the design ugly or something?” Kevin said as he scratched the back of his head. “I think it looks cool. The design is totally my style and looks like yours too.”_

_Yixing laughed heartily at that. Really, Kevin can say the most comforting things at times. “Nothing! I was worrying about Mrs Hwang’s present. Let’s go!”_

Yixing absentmindedly caressed his left wrist where the bracelet had once rested on. It was a bittersweet memory and the bracelet was a physical proof of his first real friendship even though it had to be disguised as a tutor-student relationship.

But his first real friend or not, he still could never forgive Kevin Li for betraying him.

Fists clenching in reflex as the angry thoughts flooded through his mind, Yixing yelled in frustration, punching the car window, the harsh impact leaving a small crack on the glass.

“Sir! Is everything alright?” Tao exclaimed from the front seat.

Yixing frowned at the redness that was slowly forming on his fist and growled, “Everything’s fine. Concentrate on your driving.”

Yixing wished that he was back at the tennis court, smashing all the balls with extreme vigour and having all of them hit Kevin Li’s face.


	12. Broken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter contains mentions of suicidal thoughts. Don't read if you are triggered.

Staring blankly at the white ceiling above him, Junmyeon lay motionless on his bed as he delved deeper into his depression. His tray of food and drinks were left untouched on the bedside table. He had not changed out of his clothes for five days now. His hair was dishevelled and his skin felt rough. It was a wonder how he was still alive physically. But the truth was…he was already dead inside.

Who would have thought that a person he had loved with all of his heart turned out to be quite despicable? Yixing wasn’t like this back then. This was not the Yixing he fell in love with. The Yixing he fell in love with was a kind sweetheart and a responsible student council president.

Junmyeon had forgotten how he had first realized that he was in love with Yixing but he had vividly remembered the dimpled smile the other gave him when Junmyeon had mustered the courage to confess with the help of another friend, Kevin.

_“I like you too, Junmyeon.”_

_Those words repeatedly played over Junmyeon’s mind at that time and he just froze on the spot. He had a lot of fears prior to his confession, like what if Yixing rejected him harshly and did not speak to him any longer? What if Yixing laughed at his face, thinking that this was all an elaborate prank? He had never imagined that Yixing would ever reciprocate his feelings. It felt like a dream come true._

_“Junmyeon?”_

_The said boy snapped out of his thoughts and focused his gaze back on the taller boy before him._

_“Huh?”_

_“I said, I like you too, Myeonie.”_

_“Oh.”_

_Yixing did his dimpled smile and closed the distance between them before leaning down and kissing the pale boy softly on the lips. Junmyeon widened his eyes in surprise by the unexpected gesture and he remained frozen, feeling the sweet sensation of Yixing’s lips on his. When the latter pulled away, Junmyeon blushed and averted his gaze._

_“D-did you just kiss me?”_

_“Yes, I did.”_

_“B-But why?”_

_“Because that’s what lovers do.”_

_“O-Oh. I see…what?” Junmyeon swung his gaze to face Yixing whose smile broadened. Yixing gently grasped the smaller boy’s hand before squeezing it._

_“We are boyfriends now, Myeonie.”_

_Right then, Junmyeon felt like crying. Out of happiness of course._

_From that moment onwards, the pair started dating and held hands whenever they went out together. Yixing never failed to be the romantic and affectionate one, sparing kisses on his boyfriend’s forehead, cheek, nose, lips….and it was such a pleasant feeling that Junmyeon could never get tired of. They had become so close that Junmyeon brought the Chinese male to his house where he lived with his aunt. Junmyeon’s parents had passed away when he was young and his kind-hearted aunt took him in and treated him like her own son. His aunt approved of Yixing and Junmyeon could not be any happier._

_However, as the pair started to spend more time together, their topics for conversation gradually died out. Junmyeon could not help but notice that Yixing hardly mentioned about his own family and seemed to stiffen when the topic of family surfaced._

_“Do you want to go anywhere today, Myeonie?” Yixing asked as they left the school for the day. The pair usually walked around the nearby park, just admiring nature and simply enjoying each other’s company before leaving their separate ways but Yixing always made it a point to ask his boyfriend._

_“Anywhere, Xing?”_

_Yixing nodded._

_Junmyeon hummed before asking, “Can we go to your house then?”_

_“NO!” Yixing yelled at the shorter male who was shocked by his boyfriend’s sudden outburst._

_“Um…okay, Xing. If you don’t want to,” Junmyeon forced a smile._

_“It’s just-hey look! An ice cream shop! Let’s go!” Yixing grabbed Junmyeon’s hand and pulled him away and Junmyeon immediately forgot about the tense situation that happened a few seconds before._

_The couple had been dating for months when one day, Yixing’s mother passed away and that was when Yixing’s entire demeanour gradually started to change. His once kind-hearted and friendly boyfriend suddenly became cold and mean to everyone, Junmyeon and their mutual friend Kevin included. Yixing started mistreating Junmyeon and did not entertain him with romantic gestures anymore but expected Junmyeon to always be by his side whenever. Yixing used to find it adorable when he whined and complained but then the Chinese male grew annoyed at him whenever he did similar things. It was frustrating for Junmyeon, seeing that Yixing would never revert back to his original self so Junmyeon eventually lost interest in the relationship since Yixing was obviously not invested like before anymore._

_“Xing…I think we should break up,” Junmyeon said. Earlier, Junmyeon had pulled Yixing inside into an empty classroom before telling the other of the news._

_In an instant, Yixing whipped his head up to glare at Junmyeon and Junmyeon immediately felt a shiver running down his spine. Never had Yixing looked so scary and menacing._

_“Break up? No! We can’t break up! You know why? Because no one would love you just like I do! No one would love a burdensome crybaby like you, Junmyeon. Only I would! You’ll never find anyone better than me!”_

_Even though he was terrified, Junmyeon mustered enough courage to scoff and stand his ground. “You don’t even treat me like your boyfriend anymore! You only see me as someone to stand beside you. You no longer cared about me! We don’t hold hands! We don’t kiss! And we don’t-”_

_Junmyeon was interrupted when Yixing violently crashed his lips into his and gripped his black locks roughly with both hands. Shocked, Junmyeon moved backwards and felt his head and back hit the wall harshly. He groaned in pain and he felt his hair being yanked roughly._

_“How’s this? You want a kiss? You’ll get it. Just ask for it. Nobody can fulfil your wants like me. Nobody.” Yixing paused to shove his tongue into the dizzy boy’s mouth, ignoring the younger’s muffled protests. As he pulled away once more, his gaze was distant as he watched his boyfriend slid to the floor, face contorting in pain and anguish._

_“Nobody can have you. Because you’re mine.”_

_After they graduated from high school, Yixing never let Junmyeon out of his sight and forced him to move in with him to a new apartment near his university. He refused to let Junmyeon continue his education despite knowing that it was Junmyeon’s dream to be a music producer. He also set a lot of house rules and forbade Junmyeon from leaving the house for more than 15 minutes. Junmyeon found it all incredibly ridiculous and soon enough, Yixing micro-managed everything and controlled every aspect of Junmyeon’s life. Junmyeon slowly became more compliant and subservient, obeying his boyfriend’s every instruction and order. He relied on Yixing for everything. He became emotionally dependent on Yixing. Even when Yixing abused him, he accepted it, thinking that he had been the one in the wrong even when it was not his fault._

_When Yixing took over his father’s business, Yixing had become busier and was hardly at home. During a quiet dinner, Yixing shoved an opened velvet box with a shiny diamond ring in it in front of Junmyeon’s face._

_“Let’s get married.”_

_Junmyeon couldn’t be any happier._

_However, despite being engaged, they had continued to spend very little time together and soon, they became increasingly distant that Junmyeon had a fear that Yixing had a love affair outside their relationship. Their wedding preparations were all solely handled by Junmyeon and soon, Chen helped out when they became incredibly stressful for the pale man alone._

_Junmyeon consulted his friends in the bookstore that he worked at with his problem. Thanks to Yixing not being at home often, Junmyeon was able to find a job with flexible work timings with Chen’s help so that his fiancé would not be suspicious. The truth was that Junmyeon wanted to earn some money to buy a wonderful gift for Yixing, hoping that it would help rekindle their relationship. Yixing would only give him money to buy some groceries and if Junmyeon needed more money, he had to tell Yixing and what the money was for. His co-workers in the bookstore suggested that he pretended to be clumsy and make a mess out of things to gain his fiancé’s attention. And even though Junmyeon initially found their ideas ridiculous, Junmyeon was just too desperate to care and soon put them into action._

_So, Junmyeon started to repeatedly stumble over thin air in hopes of gaining Yixing’s attention. When he pretended to fall and landed into his fiancé’s arms, Junmyeon looked up to see Yixing’s expression grew into a mix of irritation and concern. It had been long time since Yixing spared a glance that he had forgotten how it looked like and right then, Junmyeon viewed it as a fond look and continued his pretence._

_Finally, Junmyeon was able to save enough money to buy Yixing’s favourite champagne. He poured it into two wine glasses and carried them to the living room where Yixing was currently relaxing at. His fiancé looked stressed so Junmyeon hoped this would all help cheer him up! Junmyeon himself was not a fan of champagne but he figured he would take a few sips just for his fiancé’s sake. He proceeded to walk to his fiancé who heard his footsteps. Yixing opened one eye and furrowed his brow when he saw two wine glasses smelling of his favourite champagne._

_“Where did you get that from?” Yixing asked suspiciously._

_“Oh this? I bought it from a shop!” Junmyeon answered innocently._

_“But where did you get the money from?” Yixing’s voice grew rougher._

_“Um err…”Junmyeon stumbled for words. There was no way that he would reveal the truth because Yixing would surely get mad._

_“Why’re you acting so nervous?” Yixing narrowed his eyes before they turned red with fury. “Don’t tell me…you’ve been seeing another man behind my back? A rich man?”_

_“What? No! NO! I would never! I love you so much!” Junmyeon blurted out._

_“Then why are you fidgeting like you did something wrong? Tell me!” Yixing stood up and stood directly in front of the shorter man._

_“I-I…am working in a bookstore and they pay a decent salary for me…so I saved it to buy your favourite champagne.”_

_Yixing snapped, “Didn’t I tell you not to work? I earn more than enough to support the both of us! Has your brain shrink in size? Have you lost your hearing? Why are you not listening to what I say?”_

_“I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please don’t be angry!” Junmyeon could not control his tears._

_“And now you’re going to cry? Such a crybaby!” Yixing yelled at him and jabbed a finger close to his face that Junmyeon flinched and stepped backwards to trip over the couch and felt the grip from the wine glasses loosening. He gasped in shock when the glasses both spilled over the couch and broke upon contact with the floor._

_At that moment, Yixing exploded at the mess._

_“YOU’RE FUCKING USELESS! LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE DONE! This couch costs ‎₩590,000! Even you work in that little bookstore of yours for your whole life, you still won’t be able to buy this couch!”_

_“I-I’m so sorry, Xing. I didn’t mean to do it. Please don’t be angry,” Junmyeon felt tears flowing down his cheeks._

_Yixing sighed irritatedly before responding, “I can’t deal with you anymore, Junmyeon. Really, you’ve been nothing but a pest lately. I can’t believe I’m even getting married with you.”_

_Junmyeon’s eyes widened in alarm. Yixing had actually openly expressed his regret of their relationship. No, he must be joking!_

_“I’m so sorry! I’ll listen to you now from now on. I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t cancel the wedding. Please, I beg you, Xing.”_

_Yixing sighed in frustration as he grabbed his coat. “Just leave me alone.”_

_Junmyeon felt his heart slowly shatter as Yixing walked further from him before opening the door and slamming it shut behind him. Junmyeon started to cry uncontrollably. After what felt like hours, he finally stood up and proceeded to clean the mess that he made. He started by cleaning and scrubbing the stain out of the expensive couch. He had always sat here but he had no idea about the actual price of the couch. Well, it did not look like it costs ‎₩590,000, doesn’t it now? He was finally able to make the stain less conspicuous and then proceeded to sweep off the glass shards on the floors. He accidentally pricked himself on the finger and winced when it bled. Despite the injury, the pain in his heart was much more painful than the physical one that he had._

* * *

_Xing-ah…I love you so much…I can’t imagine a world without you…._

Junmyeon closed his eyes as he felt his already fragile heart breaking into little pieces. The longer he stared into the ceiling, the emptier he felt. He turned his head to the side and glanced aimlessly at the table before resting his gaze on an object. A long and pointy object. Junmyeon stared at it longingly before reaching out to grab it.

Life has no meaning if the person you love doesn’t love you back…

* * *

Kyungsoo was worried about Junmyeon’s state and headed to the pale man’s room. He knocked at the door repeatedly, calling out Junmyeon’s name.

No response. Hmm. Weird.

Kyungsoo knocked again and when he was met with no response again, he decided to just open the door.

“Jun-”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened in pure horror before he staggered backwards and screamed in terror.

There, lying lifelessly on the bed, was Junmyeon with his bleeding right hand loosely grasping a paring knife and his left wrist sliced open, staining the white sheets with dark, red blood.

 

 


	13. Wide Awake

When Junmyeon woke up, he was greeted by harsh fluorescent lights and closed his eyes in reflex. He slowly opened them again and saw white everywhere. White ceiling. White walls. Even the soft surface that his body was resting on was white.

_Am I in heaven?_

It was when Junmyeon tried to sit up straight that he discovered that his hands were restrained to the white bed that he was laying on. In panic, he tried to free himself of his restraints but his efforts proved futile. Calming himself down, he glanced over his wrists which were heavily bandaged. His ears then registered the sound of a steady heartbeat and he quickly searched for the source of that sound. When he saw the steady beat of his heart displayed on the monitor over his bed, he realized that he was currently held in a hospital.

Sighing, he leaned back on his bed and gazed forlornly at the ceiling. To be honest, he was quite disappointed that his suicide attempt failed. He tried to shift his legs when he realized that there was a heavy weight resting by his side. His eyes widened in surprise as he found out that the weight belonged to Kris. The giant was sleeping with his head resting on his hands as he leaned over the side of his bed in an uncomfortable position.

Junmyeon continued staring at him and wondered how long Kris had been there and in that obviously uncomfortable position. He tried to nudge him lightly with his leg as he was worried that Kris would have painful aches all over his body if he had stayed there quite long. His efforts proved to be in vain so he gave up. Junmyeon took the opportunity to take in the others’ features with great attention. Kris actually has quite a handsome face with his dark eyebrows and manly bone structure. He was observing the other man quietly when suddenly the door to his room was barged open.

Two men entered the room and Junmyeon instantly recognized one of them as Kyungsoo while he failed to recognize the other man who was tall and lanky with huge eyes and ears. Both of them looked deeply relieved to find out that he was awake.

Kyungsoo spoke first, “Just when are you going to stop making us feel worried? You scared us to death with your reckless stunt!”

Junmyeon glanced at the doe-eyed male as he slowly registered his words. _They were worried about me?_

The other man in the room looked like he was about to explode with the way his face was very red. The man threw a harsh glare at Junmyeon and pointed an accusing finger on him, “You! It’s all your fault! All cos of you, Kris here abruptly left an important convention where he would be announcing the new Ace G5. All thanks to you, that announcement is postponed! You know we have strategically picked that date because we were certain that it would create a worldwide buzz and be the most trending topic in all social media sites. Kris stayed up really late and worked really hard on this new phone model and now it feels like everything has gone down the drain and-”

“Shut up, Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo snapped. “We’re in a hospital now. Don’t make a ruckus here or the nurse will kick us out.”

Kyungsoo then turned to face Junmyeon, his expression softening, “I know you’ve been depressed lately but don’t do ever try to kill yourself again. I know it’s hard for you to believe but we’re all worried about you. Especially Kris here.”

“And, I think it’s about time you realize how much Kris worry about you. Even when you kept rejecting him, Kris still remained optimistic and tried really hard to cheer you up,” Kyungsoo then lightly grabbed the giant’s hand to show Junmyeon the fading scars on his fingers. “He even did things for you that he normally doesn’t do for others like peeling apples. He didn’t even ask for my help and he accidentally sliced his fingers as a result.”

“I know I have mentioned this a dozen times already but Kris is _really_ worried and concerned about you. To the point where I got annoyed at how much he cares about you because all he talks and thinks about is you. It’s about time you realize that and meet him halfway. Start appreciating all the things he has done for you. The first step in getting better from depression is to start opening up your heart and eyes to those who are genuinely concerned about you. Focus on the people right in front of you and stop dwelling on your past.”

At that, Junmyeon felt tears streaking down his cheek and started to sob quietly. He tried to wipe the tears away and stifle his sobs but could not do so with his restrained hands. Ducking his head, he then felt a soft material pressed against his cheek, causing him to lift his gaze and gasp when he was met with Kris’ kind eyes.

Kris gave him a soft smile. “Don’t cry.”

“I-I-I’m sorry,” Junmyeon sputtered out before crying even harder. “I’m sorry for treating you badly. I’m sorry for everything…”

“Ah that’s enough,” Kris waved it off. “Don’t fret. I’m not angry towards you.”

Kris leaned forward to hug the crying male to his chest.

“Like I promised you, I’ll never leave you alone. And I always keep my promises,” Kris gently assured the pale male who nuzzled his cheeks against the blonde’s chest.

Junmyeon felt his heart swell with gratitude and joy at hearing those words that were spoken so gently and sincerely towards him. He felt so flattered and he felt that he could trust Kris wholeheartedly and would not end up disappointed. 

* * *

The nurses entered the room to check on Junmyeon’s condition and deemed it safe to undo the restraints on him. Kyungsoo and Chanyeol decided it was best for them to leave Kris and Junmyeon alone.

Silence enveloped the pair for some time before Junmyeon broke it at last.

“I’m sorry,” Junmyeon apologized.

Kris was confused. “What for?”

“Erm…C-Chanyeol said you abruptly left an important convention just to visit me in the hospital. He said that you had planned it for it long enough and it was all my fault,” Junmyeon meekly added.

Kris scoffed, “Don’t mind him! It’s fine. Besides, it’s a blessing in disguise because Shagwa announced a new phone model just a few hours ago and it topped the trending topics across all social networking sites. If we had went along with the original plan, it would’ve been overshadowed by Shagwa all the same.”

After hearing that, Junmyeon smiled softly in relief.

“Thank you,” he gave Kris an angelic smile that reached his eyes. Eyes widening, Kris felt his heart beating rapidly and his face growing hot.

“Y-You’re welcome,” Kris stuttered. He had always wanted that angelic smile to be aimed at him and now, his wish had finally been granted after so many years.

“Erm…we have not formally introduced ourselves to each other yet even though we already know each other’s names,” Junmyeon spoke softly. At that, Kris felt disappointed because it seemed that Junmyeon still had not recognized him as Kevin but quickly shook his disappointment off.

“Hello. My name is Kris Wu,” Kris introduced himself as he extended his hand.

“Hi Kris. My name is Kim Junmyeon,” Junmyeon greeted back, accepting the hand. Their hands fit perfectly as they shook.

Afterwards, they just stared at each other in an awkward, long-drawn silence before Kris cleared his throat.

“Erm…I’m feeling thirsty. Do you want anything?” Kris began to stand up.

“Yes please,” Junmyeon replied. After a few minutes, Kris returned with two bottles of mineral water and offered one to the pale male, who thanked the other giant.

After taking a sip, Junmyeon stared at the empty space before smiling gently.

“I feel really thankful.” Kris snapped his head up to gaze at Junmyeon curiously.

Junmyeon raised his gaze to meet the other’s eyes. “I was really touched when I opened my eyes just now to see you lying by my side. Y-Yixing could care less if I were to fall sick. One time I was warded because of gastric pain but Yixing did not visit me at all and acted indifferent when I told him over the phone.”

At the mention of his former best friend, Kris frowned as he watched the pale male cast his eyes downwards sadly.

  _Why the hell is Yixing acting like this? He used to love and care for Junmyeon so much._

“Junmyeon, I’ll always be there for you no matter what. Even if it’s for a simple flu. I’ll always be by your side so you can count on me,” Kris said as he placed his large hands over Junmyeon’s small ones.

Junmyeon offered him a gentle smile yet again and Kris tried to not to affected by the sudden somersaults in his heart. “You’re really a kind and nice man, Kris. Your future spouse would be really lucky to be married to you.”

Blushing hard, Kris raised his hand to rub the back of his neck nervously but accidentally hit his uncapped bottled water, making it tip over and spill over his pants. Gasping, he instantly stood and desperately tried to wipe the liquid away in vain.

Junmyeon started to laugh, his melodic laughter pleasantly filled Kris’ ears as it echoed within the room. Kris gazed at the pale male and laughed along.

But their happiness were short-lived when an angry nurse barged into the room.

“Excuse me sirs? Can you please quieten down? This is a hospital, not a playground.”

“Sorry, m’am.” Both men chorused at the nurse.

After the nurse left in a huff, both Kris and Junmyeon exchanged sheepish smiles with each other before laughing quietly to themselves.

As they both started to chat with each other, Kris soon forgot the pain in his heart caused by the fact that Junmyeon did not remember him at all whereas Junmyeon mentally noted to himself to start appreciating the people who cared a lot about him, Kris in particular and to show his appreciation.


	14. Bunny

A fresh aroma wafted into Kris’ bedroom, rousing the blonde male from his sleep. Kris sleepily glanced around his room in search of the source of the pleasant smell when he instantly jolted awake at the sight of another presence in his room. More specifically, on his bed. Junmyeon, clad in a cute pink apron, supplied him a soft smile as he sat on the side of Kris’ bed. On the table next to his bed was a tray with a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs on it.

Embarrassed, Kris averted his gaze, hiding his red hot face. It then occurred to the blonde that Junmyeon must have seen the unglamorous facial expressions he had been sporting while he was asleep, making him flush redder in response.

A gentle chuckle pleasantly filled his ears and Kris gingerly glanced at the pale male still sitting on his bed. Kris stared fondly as the pale male laughed as his eyes turned to small crescents while covering his mouth politely.

“Good morning, Kris,”Junmyeon greeted.

“Good morning,” Kris greeted back.

Junmyeon smiled at him and placed the tray of breakfast on Kris’ lap. Kris glanced at the tray dumbly before looking questioningly at Junmyeon only to make a choked sound in his throat when he saw the pale male fidgeting with the hem of his apron while blushing a beet red.

“Um I prepared breakfast for you. I-I’m not sure if you like bacon and eggs though,” Junmyeon shyly said, not looking at the dumbfounded Kris. “A-And I have also ironed all of your suits and shirts. There were some creases on them.”

Kris merely nodded before realizing that the other male was not looking at him. “Thanks.”

When Junmyeon braved himself to glance at Kris, the giant was staring at his tray of breakfast with an unreadable expression on his face.

“A-Are they not to your liking? I’ll prepare something else if you don’t like it,” Junmyeon said, a slight panic in his voice.

Kris chuckled at seeing the other’s panicked expression. “No. I like it. It’ just…no one has ever served me breakfast in bed before.”

At that, Junmyeon visibly relaxed before blooming into a beautiful smile. “I’m glad that I’m the first one then!”

“Well I hope you’d enjoy my cooking. I’ll come back with some hot chocolate,” Junmyeon said before he left Kris’ room.

Kris watched at where Junmyeon previously stood before shifting his attention back to the tray of breakfast. _His_ tray of breakfast.

A soft smile formed on his lips.

* * *

In the meeting room, Kris, Chanyeol and their co-workers were all gathered to discuss about the convention that Kris had abruptly left for Junmyeon. It was an important meeting because they had to come up with a new plan on how they were going to announce about their new phone model. Even so, Kris totally zoned out as one of the co-workers was sharing his opinions about it. His mind drifted back to that morning, causing him to smile widely as he thought about Junmyeon in an apron preparing breakfast for him and watching tenderly at him as he stirred awake from his sleep. Like a cute married couple.

“Kris?” Kris shook from his stray thoughts and he glanced to see the table of people giving him strange looks.

“Yes?”

“Did I say anything that’s funny to you?” His co-worker asked him, his tone chiding him lightly.

“Nope. Sorry, please continue,” Kris responded and his co-worker resumed talking as everyone listened. Kris felt a strong nudge against his ribs and glanced at Chanyeol who was sitting beside him. His best friend shot him a questioning look and Kris merely threw him a huge smile in response.

* * *

Once Kris stepped inside his home after a long day at work, Junmyeon instantly appeared by his side.

“Welcome home, Kris!” The shorter male enthusiastically chorused before holding his hands out to take his coat. The blonde blushed at that gesture, wondering whether Junmyeon treating him like a domestic spouse would be a regular thing.

Kris looked around, realizing that someone was missing. “Where’s Kyungsoo?”

“He left early this morning to go to the airport, didn’t he tell you? He’s fetching some guy named Jongin,” Junmyeon responded.

“Oh yeah. I totally forgot about it.”

“By the way, who’s Jongin?” Junmyeon asked.

“Jongin is Kyungsoo’s lover. They’ve been dating since high school. Jongin’s studying in a university in Ireland on a dance scholarship and now is his summer break.”

Junmyeon nodded in understanding. “How about you?”

Kris raised an eyebrow. “Me?”

“Are you dating anyone?” Junmyeon asked innocently.

“W-What…” Kris spluttered, taken aback by the question. “I’m not dating anyone currently.”

“Oh. That’s so strange! You’re so handsome and nice – I thought you’d be taken already!” was all Junmyeon said before he walked away.

Kris’ eyes widened in shock after hearing the response. He sighed as he murmured, “I’m just waiting for that someone to love me back.”

He shook his head lightly before heading inside his room. After a quick shower, Kris changed out of his clothes into something comfortable before heading to the living room. He was surprised to find Junmyeon sitting near the sliding glass door, feeding the grey bunny that he had bought to cheer the pale male up. Kris watched fondly at the pale male attending to the bunny so tenderly and he was reminded of how he was equally gentle with Michael the white bunny back in high school. He had forgotten what happened to the white bunny and figured that it must have died and wondered whether Junmyeon handled its death well (if it died).

“What its name?” Kris was brought back to reality by a gentle voice.

“Oh erm. I haven’t gotten around to naming it yet,” Kris said as he approached the pale-skinned male and the bunny and crouched beside them as he petted the furry creature softly.

“How about ‘Kevin’?” Junmyeon suggested.

Widening his eyes, Kris snapped his head at the other.

“Umm…why that name?” Kris asked hesitantly.

“Back in high school, I was friends with Yixing and this guy named Kevin. Kevin’s really tall and huge and even though he looks intimidating and had a default cold face, he’s actually kind and nice,” Junmyeon then turned to face Kris who was trying his best not to freak out. “Come to think of it, you remind me a bit like Kevin.”

“I-I do?”

“Yeah! Both of you have rather large build but you give a much warmer aura,” Junmyeon failed to notice the half-disappointed and half-relieved expression on Kris’ face. “Kevin was known in school for having a scary face and being unapproachable so a lot of people avoided him and were scared of him. But it’s not true. I met him first in a library as I was hiding a stray bunny named Michael from the discipline master and Kevin’s so nice and kind-hearted. I think Kevin was just not given a chance to show his nice side and the unfortunate label just stuck on him.”

Meanwhile, Kris frowned slightly as he had no idea he had such a reputation back in high school but he was glad that Junmyeon approached him despite the rumours.

“So, what else do you know about this Kevin?” Kris changed into a more comfortable sitting position and was thankful that Junmyeon was not suspicious by his curiosity.

“After the first time we met in the library, we continued to meet each other in the school courtyard and in the hallways coincidentally. He was always with Yixing. They were very close with each other even though they contrasted with each other. Yixing warned me about the stray animals I brought to school but let me off a few times. Then one day, my bunny got taken away while I was in class and Kevin and Yixing helped me rescue the bunny.”

_Junmyeon held his face in his hands as he sobbed uncontrollably. He had been frantically searching for Michael everywhere but the white bunny was nowhere to be found. There was no way it would suddenly escape from the makeshift shelter that he personally made for it. So the only possibility was that it got stolen._

_“Junmyeon?” The pale male raised his head to see the concerned looks of Kevin and Yixing. Both of them grew worried when they saw the pale male’s tear-stricken face._

_“Hey, what’s wrong?” Yixing placed a hand on the shorter male’s shoulder._

_“M-Michael. He got t-taken away,” Junmyeon struggled to reply as tears started flowing down his cheeks again._

_“Who’s Michael?” Yixing asked, his face confused._

_“Michael is Junmyeon’s white bunny,” Kevin answered instantly. “I think I know where he is. I overheard the delinquent seniors wanting to steal it. ”_

_At once, Junmyeon stood up and grabbed the Kevin’s hand. “Tell me! Take me to him!”_

_Nodding, Kevin brought them to the school rooftop and Junmyeon gasped in horror when he saw a group of delinquent seniors torturing his bunny mercilessly. Colour drained from Junmyeon’s face when he saw his bunny unmoving and bleeding profusely. At the sight of his bunny’s bloody dismembered arm, Junmyeon screamed._

_His scream attracted the delinquents’ attention and they intimidatingly approached the trio. Not even fazed by the menacing people before him, Junmyeon quickly ran to his bunny’s side but his wrist was roughly grabbed by one of the delinquents._

_“Hey hey, where are you going, pretty boy?”_

_“Let me go, you hooligan!” Junmyeon yelled at the delinquent as he shook free from the harsh grip._

_Angered, another delinquent approached the pale male and roughly grabbed him by the chin._

_“Watch your mouth! Do you know who you’re talking to?” Junmyeon glared at him before kicking the delinquent before him with a harsh kick on the stomach before rushing to his bunny. The injured delinquent groaned in pain and motioned to his other friends._

_“Get him, boys.” The delinquent then felt a grab on his shoulder and turned his head to see Kevin before being punched straight at the jaw. A fight ensued with Kevin taking on the delinquents single-handedly before Yixing stepped in and took on one of the delinquents. The student council president hated violence but he hated unfair fights more. Meanwhile, Junmyeon cradled his injured bunny and soothingly caressed its partially bloody fur. He was unaware that one of the delinquents had slipped away and grabbed a large wooden plank and had sneaked up behind him to smash it to his head._

_“Junmyeon, watch out!”_

_Junmyeon instantly jerked behind him and could only stay still as the plank was aimed at him. He closed his eyes, bracing for impact as he hugged his bunny closely. He then heard the sound of wood snapping and opened his eyes to see Kevin shielding him. Blood started to pour out of Kevin’s head and Junmyeon stared in horror. It was a terrifying sight and Kevin growled menacingly as something erupted in him and took on the delinquents with more vigour which scared Junmyeon. The pale male glanced around and saw Yixing effortlessly twisting the arm of one delinquent. It then occurred to Junmyeon that they were all fighting._

_Soon, Mr Choi appeared on the rooftop and broke the fight. As he pulled the group of six delinquents aside, he told the Kevin, Yixing and Junmyeon to visit the sick bay to tend to their injuries and then visit the principal’s office after they were done._

_As Junmyeon shakily stood up while still holding the bunny, he noticed that both Yixing and Kevin were injured and saw Kevin approaching him in concern but Junmyeon, being terrified of Kevin’s bloody sight earlier on, ran past the giant._

_“A-Are you okay, Yixing?” Junmyeon asked Yixing who merely nodded._

_After the trio had given their statements to the principal, Yixing and Kevin accompanied Junmyeon to the nearest animal clinic to tend to Michael’s injuries. As Junmyeon was crying while waiting for Michael’s injuries to be treated, he felt a tight hug enveloping around him and instantly felt comforted. He did not know who was the one hugging him but he appreciated the other’s approach to comfort him._

_The next day, Junmyeon found out that the gang of delinquents had been expelled and was relieved at that. Monsters like them should be placed as far as they could be from cute bunnies and animals. Michael missed an arm but he survived the torture thankfully. During lunch time, Junmyeon bounded to Yixing’s and Kevin’s table to personally thank them for helping him. He wanted to spend the lunch time with them and reluctantly sat beside Kevin, still scared of the giant from the previous day._

Junmyeon sighed. “I regretted not thanking Kevin properly that day. I had to be such a coward and scared of blood. It’s obvious that Kevin cared a lot about Michael and I had to be so ungrateful. He fought so much just to ensure Michael’s safety.”

Kris remained quiet as he remembered how terrified Junmyeon was of him when he was covered in so much blood. The fact was that he had been so occupied with protecting the pale male that he did not register that he was bleeding. Kris also remembered hugging Junmyeon while they were waiting for Michael’s injuries to be treated and had figured that the pale male did not remember who the person hugging him was since he was so distraught.

“I wonder how Kevin’s doing now…” Junmyeon murmured as he stroked the grey bunny’s fur tenderly.

“He’s fine now,” Kris blurted out.

“What?” Junmyeon looked at the other in surprise. “How did you know? Are you friends with him?”

“Erm no,” Kris saw the pale male deflate at his response. “I mean, from the way you talked about Kevin, Kevin seems like a decent guy! I’m sure he’s in a good place somewhere in this world.”

Junmyeon smiled at him. “You’re so optimistic, Kris! I wish I could have half as your optimism! Anyway, I hope Kevin’s doing fine. I would love to meet him again someday.”

Kris tried his best not to scream his lungs out that he was ‘Kevin’ so he asked a question instead. “So, what happened to Michael?”

“Oh. I decided that the school grounds were not safe for him so I handed him over to my neighbours to take of him. They moved out shortly though but it comforted me to know that he was at least in safe hands,” Junmyeon smiled at Kris before grabbing a carrot to feed the grey bunny.

Kris smiled too and patted the bunny. A comfortable silence filled the air as they gave their newly named bunny Kevin all of their attention and affection.

“AH!” Kris shouted, as if he suddenly remembered something.

“What is it?”

“I just remembered! This bunny is actually a female.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awkward ending is awkward lol


	15. Promise

The carnival was bustling with activity and swarming with people as visitors excitedly visited booth after booth or were simply walked around while chatting animatedly. When they had first arrived there, Kris was slightly caught off guard by the huge turnout and they had actually arrived relatively early.

The thing was, Kris hated crowds. Kris simply found crowds to be suffocating so he avoided places that attract huge crowds of people. This time was the exception. Kyungsoo had invited him and Junmyeon to the carnival where Kyungsoo would be spending some quality time with his lover Jongin and Kyungsoo just happened to have extra tickets. Junmyeon had readily accepted the offer before commenting that he absolutely _loves_ carnivals. Then all eyes turned on Kris for his answer and with the way Junmyeon glanced at him expectantly with a huge grin on his face, Kris said ‘yes’ without giving it much thought. Yes, Kris hated crowds but he hated to see Junmyeon’s disappointed expression more.

Another thing was that Kris confided in a few people on the fact that he hated crowds and they were Kyungsoo and Chanyeol. (Kris hoped that there would be an opportunity where he would be able to tell this to Junmyeon one day) So, Kris could not help but suspect that Kyungsoo had an ulterior motive for inviting him to this carnival. When Jongin and Junmyeon joined a queue to buy some snacks, Kris pulled Kyungsoo aside to speak to him.

“What’s your intention bringing me here? You know I hate crowds,” Kris went straight to the point.

Kyungsoo barely looked surprised, as if he expected that question. “ _You_ know why.”

Kris stared at the shorter man, brows creased, puzzlement on his face. “What? No, I don’t. Come on, tell me the reason.”

When the shorter man kept silent and swung his gaze to look at Jongin instead, Kris sighed exasperatedly. “Why did you bring me and Junmyeon here? We two would just be third wheels to your date anyway.”

Kyungsoo glanced back at Kris before giving the other a smirk. “Well, me and Jongin are going to leave you two alone. Give you an opportunity to spend some quality time with your Junmyeon. Who knows…by the end of this day, you two would be boyfriends.”

Kris let out a surprised gasp. “You planned this, didn’t you? And those ‘extra pair of tickets’…you actually bought them, didn’t you?”

“That’s right. Put them into good use, okay? Me and Jongin are rooting for you two," Kyungsoo smiled at the blonde man. “You’ll thank us for this someday.”

* * *

True to his word, Kyungsoo bolted off with Jongin and were lost in the sea of people before Junmyeon and Kris could say anything. When it occurred to Kris that he was actually alone with Junmyeon, Kris started to sweat nervously. He wished that Kyungsoo had told him of his plan to get him and Junmyeon together earlier. That way, Kris would have prepared some conversation topics beforehand and would not feel anxious as hell like he was right now.

“Are you okay?” Kris glanced down to see Junmyeon looking up at him with worry.

“I’m fine,” Kris assured him, smiling.

Nodding, Junmyeon offered his cotton candy to the blonde. “Want some?”

“S-Sure,” Kris tentatively bit off a small portion of it. “It tastes…sweet.”

Junmyeon laughed at that. “You’re funny. Is this your first time eating cotton candy?”

Blushing, Kris realized how dumb he sounded. Of course a candy is sweet. When is candy not sweet? “I…don’t eat sweet things often.”

“I see…”Junmyeon nodded in understanding before swerving his gaze to observe the booths around them. His eyes then caught sight of a certain booth before his face brightened.

“There’s a booth that’s selling bubble tea over there,”Junmyeon pointed at said booth. “Have you tried bubble tea before?”

“I haven’t,” Kris admitted, feeling his cheeks flush.

“Let’s go try it then. I’m sure you’ll come to love it,” Junmyeon smiled at the blonde man. “Come on!”

Kris watched as the pale male jogged to the booth before his lips curled into a smile.

“As long as I can be with you, I would try out anything,” Kris muttered under his breath before joining the pale male.

* * *

Silence enveloped between Kris and Junmyeon as they walked around the carnival, surveying the booths, all while sipping on their bubble tea drinks.

“How is it?” Junmyeon broke the silence.

“Quite good,” Kris commented. He felt his stomach swoop when he saw Junmyeon bloomed into a smile.

“See! I knew you’d love it!” Junmyeon seemed proud of himself and Kris hid a smile behind his drink.

They continued to walk around when suddenly, there was a shout behind them.

“Myeon!” They both swivelled around in surprise and Junmyeon was instantly engulfed into a tight hug by an effeminate-looking man.

“I miss you so much!” The man squealed as he held the smaller man even tighter. Watching them in jealousy, Kris wondered when he could comfortably hug Junmyeon like that.

“I miss you too, Luhan,” Junmyeon’s response was muffled as his face was pressed uncomfortably against the other man’s shoulder. “But if you could please let me go, I’m having a hard time breathing…”

At once, Luhan released the smaller man, his cheerful grin growing wider as he placed his hands on the other’s shoulder.

“Lu! There you are!” Another man, tall and sporting blonde hair, strode to them. “Why’d you run off like that?”

“Sehunnie look! It’s Myeon!” The man, Sehun looked over to Junmyeon before his eyes widened in surprise. He ran forward and instantly engulfed the smaller man in a tight hug, just like Luhan did.

“Hyung!” Sehun exclaimed. Even though he had already expressed his affections earlier, Luhan joined in the hug in glee.  “Hyung, I’ve missed you so much!”

Once the overly-excited pair had finally released the shorter male, they began to bombard him with questions.

“Why didn’t you answer my texts or calls?”

“Are you not coming to work anymore? I thought you love working in the bookstore?”

“And, you’re looking quite skinny, Myeon. Are you not eating well?”

“Hyung! Are you depressed? Tell us! We’ll comfort you!”

Junmyeon was overwhelmed by the questions and could not find a chance to speak. Sensing the pale male’s distress, Kris stepped forward and shot the pair with a disarming smile.

“Junmyeon here, he’s just catching a break from his stressful life. For now, he prefers to keep his personal problems to himself, right Junmyeon?” Kris faced the pale male who seemed slightly surprised.

“Y-Yeah, that’s right. Sorry, guys,” Junmyeon gave an apologetic smile to the pair. Inside, he was thankful for Kris for intervening. He had not planned to disclose his latest life changes to anyone else, even to his close friends.

“It’s okay, Hyung. We understand!” Sehun placed his hand on the smaller’s shoulder comfortingly.

“Yeah! Take as much time as you need! And tell us when you’re ready,” Luhan offered an encouraging smile.

“Thanks, guys,” Junmyeon smiled.

Finally noticing Kris, Luhan nudged Junmyeon with his elbow as he shot the other a cheeky smile. “So, when’s the wedding?”

“Huh?”

Luhan chuckled. “Isn’t your wedding coming soon? You sound quite excited about it.”

“I still don’t get you,” Junmyeon furrowed his brows in confusion.

“Why are you acting dumb, hyung? Isn’t he your fiancé?” Sehun pointed at Kris.

There was a pregnant pause as the words slowly started to sink in. Realization soon dawned on the confused duo and Junmyeon frantically waved his hands in the air while Kris’ eyes seemed to bulge out of his eye sockets.

“No no no! This is Kris Wu. He’s…err…a close friend of mine,” Junmyeon quickly said.

“Oh? But, you’ve always told us that we’re your only close friends,” Luhan replied.

“Well, I’ve just recently met him,” Junmyeon offered, secretly relieved when he saw his two friends nodding. He could not imagine their reactions if Junmyeon had introduced Kris to them as his buyer, of all things.

“Nice to meet you, Kris! I’m Luhan! And this is my boyfriend, Sehun!” Luhan smiled as he extended his hand.

“Nice to meet you too. I’m Kris,” Kris said as he shook their hands.

“The wedding’s coming up soon, right? Sehunnie and I have been trying out a lot of suits,” Luhan said proudly.

“…It’s been cancelled,” Junmyeon said softly.

“What!” The couple chorused.

“Why, hyung?” Sehun asked worriedly.

“Yixing and I decided to separate ways amicably. We just no longer hold special feelings for each other anymore.”

Kris watched Junmyeon as the latter had his eyes downcast, obviously recalling his terrible past.

“Since we’re here together, why don’t we try out some rides and games?” Kris intervened and to his relief, Sehun and Luhan agreed. Kris then glanced at Junmyeon who gave him a smile of gratitude, to which Kris smiled back.

_I got your back, Junmyeon._

* * *

Kris was secretly relieved that they had bumped onto Junmyeon’s friends from work otherwise he and Junmyeon would both be suffering from awkward silences throughout their whole outing. Luhan and Sehun were really loud and easily excitable, screaming their heads off when they took the rollercoaster ride and entered the haunted house. Kris was surprised to see Junmyeon not terrified of either of them and watched in amusement as Luhan and Sehun grabbed Junmyeon’s arms and hid behind him for protection when the zombies and ghosts approached them horrifyingly. Kris had to admit the makeup and costumes were on point.

Once they had tried out all the main attractions, they went for a bathroom break. While they were waiting for Junmyeon and Luhan, Sehun initiated a conversation with Kris.

“You like Junmyeon-hyung, don’t you?” Kris whirled to face the younger male and saw a tiny smile and a raise eyebrow.

“You seem like a decent guy. I approve of you,” Sehun continued. He did not need a verbal answer, Kris’ wide-eyed expression was enough. “I really dislike that Yixing guy. I’m glad to find out that they cancelled the wedding. Junmyeon-hyung must think me and Luhan are oblivious but we both noticed the bruises on his body when we were working together. I can never respect a person who hits his own partner. And I hope that you would treat Junmyeon-hyung well.”

Even though he had just known Sehun, Kris felt that the younger male’s words strengthen his desire to make Junmyeon his boyfriend. All the support he was getting, from Kyungsoo, Jongin and now, Sehun – it all made him realize how his feelings for Junmyeon were as clear as day, except for the object of his affections himself.

“I will,” Kris answered firmly and Sehun smiled at the determination laced in the other man’s words.

After their bathroom break, they visited the booths next. In this one booth, they had to shoot some water balloons with a gun. If they successfully popped all the balloons for three consecutive sets, they claim a prize. Luhan was surprisingly an excellent shooter and was able to fulfil the criteria with no sweat as Kris, Junmyeon and Sehun cheered him on.

Wanting to win something for Junmyeon, Kris participated too and was narrowly able to pop all fifteen balloons. He was given a pair of alpaca dolls to which Kris beamed at. Alpacas were his greatest weakness. He had an adorable alpaca doll called ‘Ace’ when he was young and used to bring it everywhere with him but unfortunately a bully stole it from him and mercilessly ruined it.

It had already been night time when Sehun suddenly exclaimed.

 “Look at the time! We have to go now!” Next to him, Luhan slapped his own forehead harshly as if they had almost missed an important plan.

“We had a reservation at a Hotel XOXO. I can’t believe I almost forgot about it!” Luhan groaned.

“What’s the occasion?” Junmyeon curiously asked. He recognized that hotel as a five-star hotel with top-quality amenities and facilities.

“We’re celebrating our fifth year anniversary,” Sehun proudly said as he linked arms with a blushing Luhan.

“Ah I see. Congratulations!” Junmyeon smiled at them. From the side, Kris noticed that the smile did not quite reach his eyes and wondered if the other was recalling about how his relationship with Yixing ended.

“Thanks! Anyway, don’t forget to stay in contact, Myeon!” Luhan said.

 “Oh…actually, I lost my phone,” Since all of his items were packed into his suitcases, Junmyeon assumed his other belongings, including his phone, had been discarded.

“Then, how are we going to keep in contact?” Luhan looked horrified as Sehun mirrored his expression.

“I’ll buy him a new phone tomorrow. For the time being, why don’t I give you my number? Then when Junmyeon gets it, I’ll inform you immediately,” Kris intervened.

“That would be nice!” Sehun said gratefully.

“So, are you guys going to continue your date?” Luhan wiggled his eyebrows before getting a painful nudge to the ribs by his boyfriend.

“Sorry, we’ve been hanging out and I just assume that you were a couple and forgot that you guys are just friends,” Luhan rubbed the back of his head apologetically.

“It’s okay. You guys enjoy yourselves, okay?” Junmyeon said.

“Will do! Bye bye!” And in a flash, the couple left and once again, Kris and Junmyeon were alone again.

Kris glanced around, noticing that even though the crowd had visibly lessened, there were still quite a lot of people left. His eyes darted around before widening at a certain booth.

“Junmyeon, look! Takoyaki!”Without thinking, he grabbed the other’s hand and dragged him to the booth, remembering how much Junmyeon loved Japanese food back in high school. “You like takoyaki, don’t you?”

Once they had joined in the queue which was only a couple of people in front of them, Junmyeon looked up at Kris, “How did you know I like takoyaki?”

Internally cursing at his slip-up, Kris quickly formulated a reply, “D-Doesn’t everyone like takoyaki?”

Luckily, the pale male did not question further and merely shifted his gaze to their interlinked hands. Eyes widening, Kris quickly released their hands and nervously focused his attention somewhere. Soon, it was their turn to order and they bought two packets.

The pair found a bench to sit on and there was a wide gap between them to which Kris realized sadly as he picked a takoyaki ball with a toothpick. Silence filled the air between them once again and Kris was in a sour mood to initiate the conversation. He was upset about the noticeable gap between them and wondered if Junmyeon was still afraid of him.

“Hey, Kris.”

Said man raised his head to glance at Junmyeon who had his eyes fixed on the ground.

“Yes?”

“C-Can I ask you a question?” He timidly asked, as if scared that Kris would yell at him at that request.

“Of course,” Kris confidently replied, not knowing what to expect.

The blonde watched Junmyeon who took a deep breath before facing Kris, “How was I sold?”

Shocked beyond words, Kris’ jaw grew slack. Truthfully, he had dreaded this question because he had no idea how to address it. Obviously, there was no way he could reveal his identity. What would Junmyeon think if he had told the truth? The pale male must have had no idea that Kevin had a heavy crush on him so how would he view him if he found out that Kris was actually Kevin and had been stalking Junmyeon for a long time, always thinking about the pale male even after years had passed before grabbing at the opportunity to be close with him again even though the opportunity was a little screwed up?

As he gazed into Junmyeon’s soft dark brown orbs, Kris decided that the pale male at least deserved the truth for all of the horrible shit that he had been through.

Sighing, Kris said, “I was with my friend Kyungsoo attending this huge IT convention and then we happened to chance upon a flyer about some ‘special auction sale’. We got curious so we headed to the basement of the building where that auction was held. Before we could enter the room, we had to wear masks cos the auction guaranteed anonymity to the buyers. We both thought it was strange since what items could be so obscene for the potential buyers’ face to be hidden. Then we got the shock of our lives when we found out that the auction involved humans.  

The whole thing was pretty sick but we stayed behind and the final offer of the night was you. A profile of you was shown and it was stated that your fiancé was selling you. A lot of people raised your original bid and most of them were perverted old men and I was angry at the thought of an innocent looking person like you being brought to these men’s home. I felt the need to protect you somehow. So, in a fit of fury, I raised the bid to a very high price so that no one would be able to outbid me. And before I knew it, you were officially sold to me. Of course I was too scared that my reputation would get tainted in the mess so Kyungsoo did it for me under his pseudonym ‘D.O.’.”

When he had finished talking, he gingerly lifted his head to see Junmyeon’s reaction. The other male was mostly speechless but the betrayal and heartbreak held in his eyes were very apparent.

“I-I’m sorry, Junmyeon,” Kris apologized but then again, there was no use, at least that was what he thought.

“N-No, it’s okay,” the pale male answered almost instantly. “I-I was the one who asked. I actually should thank you for…buying me instead of letting me off to the dirty old men you mentioned.”

Gulping, Junmyeon hesitated to ask, “H-How much did Y-Yixing sell me for?”

Kris could not bear seeing the other break anymore but decided to at least respond to his questions truthfully. “900 million won. That was the base price.”

Junmyeon clenched his eyes shut as a stray tear fell down his cheek. “That’s the estimated cost of our wedding. I knew it. I’m only worth to him that much.”

Kris watched sadly as he saw the pale male with his shoulders slumped and slightly trembling. He did not want the beautiful night to end with Junmyeon being upset. Getting an idea, Kris reached out to the bag beside him before shifting close to the pale male. Noticing this, the confused male watched as Kris raised a pair of alpaca dolls with his hands.

“Yah! Don’t cry!” Pink alpaca spoke with Kris’ childish voice. “Beautiful people should not cry!”

“Yah! Don’t disturb him, Pinky!” Blue alpaca said with a slightly deeper voice before then turning to face Junmyeon. “I apologize for my friend Pinky, she gets so annoying sometimes!”

“How dare you, Blue! Watch as I wrestle you to the death!” At once, Pinky ‘tackled’ Blue and they ‘fought’ with each other as they regularly changed their positions.

“Haha! See I won! Girlpower!” Pinky stepped on Blue in triumph.

“Wah! I give up!” Blue admitted in defeat.

After the whole performance was over, Junmyeon burst out laughing.

“Thank you, Kris.” The pale male offered a genuine smile to the other. “Thanks for cheering me up.”

“You’re welcome.” Kris smiled back, happy that Junmyeon was comforted by his lame and childish performance.

Sighing, Junmyeon leaned against Kris and rested his head on the blonde’s shoulder. At that, Kris felt his cheeks reddening and tried to calm himself down. While Kris was trying to compose himself, Junmyeon gazed at the night sky, bright, yellow stars twinkling in it.

“The sky is so beautiful tonight,” Junmyeon murmured. “The stars are so bright. The moon looks so tranquil. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this. I’m glad I’m able to see this sight with you, Kris.”

Before Kris could register his words, Junmyeon closed his eyes and fell asleep as he leaned against Kris. The blonde man looked at Junmyeon fondly, admiring the other’s perfect and stunning face. Kris recalled how a man named Chen went over to talk to him after he had purchased Junmyeon. Since it was a conversation held in a private setting, Kris removed his mask, revealing his identity to Chen.

_“Why did you buy Junmyeon when you’ve carried yourself as a decent man, Mr. Wu? Do you perhaps have some perverse desires that you’re keeping as a secret?”_

_Truthfully, Kris was shocked beyond words when he saw his high school crush being auctioned off. He had literally spent years pining for Junmyeon even after the latter had went out with Yixing and was even engaged to him. As other people were raising the bid for the pale male, Kris did not know what had come over him when he suddenly raised his hand and yelled out his price, causing all eyes to face him. Maybe it was because that moment presented itself to Kris as a golden opportunity to be with Junmyeon. Even though it was for price. When that deal was made, Kris knew that this was going to be a screwed-up relationship. Did he really have to stoop so low just to have the chance to be with Junmyeon? Did this show how desperate he was? Kris did not know. All he knew was that when he saw the perverted grins of the bidders just now, he just could not bear seeing Junmyeon being sold to them and suffer at their hands when Kris had the power and wealth to stop that from happening. At this point, Kris realized that he did not care if Junmyeon would later resent him for buying him, as long as he had successfully keep him away from harm’s way._

_“I just want to protect Junmyeon,” Kris answered simply but firmly. Chen studied the blonde man for a moment before giving him a smile._

_“Then, please do.”_

Kris gently set Junmyeon such that the latter’s head was resting comfortably on his lap. Junmyeon remained asleep, unaffected by the change in position. Kris lightly brushed the bangs from Junmyeon’s forehead before smiling down on the sleeping male and then lifting his gaze to witness the beautiful night sky that Junmyeon glanced at with childlike wonder in his eyes.

“Junmyeon, I promise to take care of you and protect your beautiful smiles. I’ll make sure you’ll have unlimited chances to see this night sky that you love seeing so much.”

Kris glanced back down to look at Junmyeon, determination filling his eyes and voice.

“I promise.”

 

 

 


	16. The Line Between Us

Weeks have passed. Kris had never felt closer to Junmyeon than before in his life. Even back when they were in high school, there was some unspoken distance between them, like an invisible line that he could cross. It was very obvious to Kris that after the kidnap of Michael episode, Junmyeon gravitated towards Yixing instead of Kris himself who had helped the pale male find his precious bunny in the first place. And to rub salt into his wound, Junmyeon had fallen in love with Yixing and the angel-like boy had to tell him before Kris himself was about to confess to the small male. Not to mention, everyone else in school stayed away from Kris because of some groundless rumours that said that Kris was a leader from a fearsome Chinese mob who landed all of his victims in the hospital. Till this day, Kris still wondered who spread those rumours because thanks to that person, his last year of high school is the most horrible period in his life. Kris had never been more miserable.

“Kris?” Kris turned to face Junmyeon who shot him a worried glance. The pale male placed his hand on Kris’ which were on the steering wheel. “Is something wrong?”

“Nope, there’s nothing wrong,” Kris smiled reassuringly at him and the other boy squeezed his hand in response. As he and Junmyeon had grown closer, the pale male had become more touchy-feely with him. Not that Kris minded any of that of course, especially since Junmyeon allowed him to touch him anywhere too. Obviously, not in _those_ places, mind you.

“You know you can tell me if there’s anything wrong, okay?” Junmyeon insisted.

“Aigoo, you worry too much. Like a _mother_ ,” Kris added the last teasingly. He watched as the other huffed and leaned back in his seat.

“Excuse me for being concerned,” Junmyeon crossed his arms defiantly, with a pout sticking out.

“Are you sulking? You’re too cute you know that?” Kris teased further, reaching out to pinch the other’s cheek.

Junmyeon would have made a clever retort if not for the upcoming problem before them. “Kris! It’s a red light!”

At once, Kris stepped on the brake, getting a grumpy pedestrian hurling a fist at him. Sighing in relief, Kris turned to face Junmyeon and both of them erupted into a fit of giggles.

Since Kris did not have to attend work that day, he decided to take Junmyeon out to buy him a new phone. They both had a very light breakfast before they had left so while Kris was driving them in his Honda, Junmyeon’s stomach grumbled noisily.

“Hungry?” Kris voiced out, his lips curled into a smile.

Junmyeon blushed. “Yeah.”

“Just our luck. There’s Café EXODUS straight ahead,” Kris quickly stopped the car. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

“Kris! Wait!” Junmyeon called out but the blonde had already shut the door behind him. “But I haven’t told you what I wanted yet…”

Minutes had passed and Kris returned with a cold beverage and a large paper bag.

“Here you go! An iced chocolate with extra whipped cream and chocolate ice cream at the bottom, just the way you like it!” Kris cheerfully said as he handed the beverage to the slightly stunned Junmyeon.

“Thanks, Kris…” Junmyeon weakly said.

“No problem! And here a turkey roast sandwich with extra mayo and a chocolate chip cookie to go with your iced chocolate.”

Junmyeon accepted the paper bag. “How about you, Kris?”

“Don’t worry about me. I don’t feel hungry. Eat up, okay? We wouldn’t want you to faint when we are in the shopping mall,” Kris said with a laugh.

“Haha…you think you are funny, aren’t you? Eyes on the road!” Junmyeon playfully scolded the blonde who was still laughing.

As Junmyeon neatly bit into his sandwich, he thought about how Kris knew exactly what he wanted when he did not even tell Kris beforehand. Only two other people knew the way he liked his iced chocolate and sandwiches prepared and that he loved to have a cookie as he sipped into his iced chocolate.

And they were Yixing and Kevin.

Junmyeon stole some secret glances at Kris whose eyes were glued to the road. Now that he eyed Kris closely, Kris did bear a very strong resemblance to Kevin. Kris had also once assured him that Kevin was ‘doing fine’ as if he knew Kevin very well. But then later, Kris had said that he had never met Kevin before so it’s not possible for Kris to know about Kevin.

Unless…Kris _is_ Kevin.

Junmyeon’s eyes widened at this speculation.

_Could it be?_

* * *

Still left with a lot of time to kill, both of them decided to walk around the shopping mall and go window-shopping, just enjoying each other’s company. Kris felt like it was back in old times when he would hang out with Yixing and Junmyeon, when Yixing was still nice that is.

“This brings me back memories,” Junmyeon suddenly said as they left an accessories shop.

His statement caught Kris off guard and made him hesitantly ask, “W-What do you mean?”

The way Kris stiffened did not go unnoticed by Junmyeon who eyed the taller male carefully.

“It’s just back in high school, Yixing, Kevin and I would spend time together after school just to grab some lunch or ice cream. We even have a token meeting place, at Café EXODUS. You know…the place where I…” Junmyeon trailed off and Kris did not need the other to continue.

“It’s okay. It’s all in the past,” Kris grabbed the pretty male’s hand and squeezed it comfortingly.

“Thanks, Kris,” Junmyeon smiled gratefully at him, holding their interwoven hands tightly. “It’s just…I have spoken some unkind words to you at the café. So I’m sorry, Kris. I was too blinded by my love for Yixing that I pushed you away when you just wanted to help me.”

“Like I said, it’s okay. No need to worry your pretty little head about it,” Kris assured, poking the smaller male on the forehead.

Junmyeon smiled at the taller male and they continued to walk forward. While Kris had his eyes facing forward, Junmyeon regarded the taller male carefully before making a remark.

“I wish I could meet Kevin. I really miss him,” Junmyeon said, trying to make it sound as casual as possible, in hopes that Kris would take the bait.

“Wow look at the time! We’re running late! How about we go get your new phone now?” Kris exclaimed before walking hurriedly without even waiting for Junmyeon to respond. Meanwhile, Junmyeon was startled by Kris’ nervousness. The pale male wondered why Kris tried so hard to evade questions about ‘Kevin’. But Junmyeon was not able to indulge further on that thought as Kris was already entering the elevator.

“Hey! Wait up, Kris!”

* * *

As the duo entered the phone shop, all the employees greeted Kris courteously, instantly recognizing him as the co-founder and chief executive officer of ACE. Kris slightly bowed back and glanced at the worker standing behind the counter.

“Minho, bring it out,” Kris ordered and the pale man next to him shivered slightly at the tone of his authoritative voice. The worker, Minho, nodded and headed straight inside the backroom. Meanwhile, the other two workers in the shop approached Kris.

“Who’s this, Kris?” The taller of the two asked as he regarded Junmyeon with interest.

“He looks pretty~” the shorter one cooed and then yelped when the taller one nudged him in the ribs hard. “But of course, Taeminie is still prettier in my eyes.”

“Enough, Taemin, Jonghyun,” Kris sighed. Really, his employees could be a handful at times. “Go back to work. There are other customers in here.”

In a flash, they went back to their posts, afraid of disobeying their supreme boss. And at that moment, Minho appeared with a bag and a box, placing them on the counter before leaving to attend to a customer. With deft fingers, Kris opened the box and showed Junmyeon his new phone. It was the latest ACE model called the ACE G5, not even available commercially yet. But, Kris did not tell that to Junmyeon, knowing that the other would refuse it if he had known.

“Wow this looks really amazing, Kris,” Junmyeon said as he admired the sleek silver phone with gold accents. It fit perfectly in his tiny hands too.

Overhearing the pale male, Minho interjected, “I know right! And it’s not even-”

The frog-eyed male stopped talking when Kris aimed a scary glare at him, warning him to shut up.

“A-Anyway, I hope you’ll enjoy your new phone. Oh look a customer…” Minho scurried away in fear as Junmyeon watched in confusion and Kris sport a smug smirk.

After Kris had helped the smaller male set up his phone, he turned to face the other, “So, what would you like to do with it?”

Junmyeon pondered for a moment before getting an idea. “Let’s take a picture together! A selfie!”

Kris smiled as he watched the smaller male struggling to fit the both of them into the camera frame. Chuckling to himself, Kris grabbed the phone from the other’s tiny hands and steadied the phone from arms’ length.

“Ready?” Kris clicked on the camera shutter button. Afterwards, both of them studied the taken picture before Junmyeon told him to take more to which the other happily complied. They spent the next few minutes taking pictures with various poses and expressions, giggling to themselves as they did so. Once they had enough, Junmyeon chose the picture where the both of them held peace signs.

Beaming up happily at the taller male, Junmyeon said, “Thank you so much, Kris!”

“Don’t mention it,” Kris smiled down at the smaller male before having his arm yanked forward.

“Come on! Let’s go have some food before we do more window-shopping!” Junmyeon exclaimed excitedly as he dragged Kris away from the shop, with the taller male chuckling at his cuteness.

“Hey, Jonghyun-hyung,” Taemin whispered to the shorter male, even when the pair had left a while ago. “Do you think Kris and that guy are going out?”

Before Jonghyun could offer a reply, Minho were at their side. “I think so too, Taemin. I’ve never seen Kris smile so much before in my life.”

“Hmm…it does felt as if Kris had a different aura,” Jonghyun agreed. “I guess some people behave differently with certain people…”

* * *

“Come on! Don’t be shy~”

“S-Shut up! I-It’s not something you show to anyone easily…”

“How ‘bout this? I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” Kris wiggled his eyebrows.

A blush crept to Junmyeon’s cheeks. “W-What?! How can you be so sure that yours would be able to compare with mine?”

“Well, you have to show yours to me if you want to know~” Kris sing-songed.

“Ugh fine!” Junmyeon puffed his cheeks in annoyance. “I’ll sing for you!”

“Aigoo~ You’re so cute, y’know that?” the taller cooed as he reached out to pinch out the other’s chubby cheeks. “I can’t wait to hear your beautiful voice.”

“How would you know my voice is beautiful if you’ve never heard me sing before,” the pretty male grumbled as he rubbed his sore cheeks.

“I just know,” Kris threw him a confident smirk. Kris knew, of course. Back then, he would sneak into the music room and hide behind a piano to listen to Junmyeon’s angelic voice as the other practised in his singing. Of course, Kris’ body was too large to be concealed perfectly so the music teacher was able to easily spot him and throw him out.

“Okay, I’m starting,” Junmyeon announced before clearing his throat.

_Is your heart a yes or no?_

_Give me a sign, X or O_

_It’s no fun to wait, yeah_

Swaying his body to Junmyeon’s voice, Kris remembered the song being titled ‘XOXO’, a song that Junmyeon and his friend personally made with Junmyeon writing the lyrics and his friend composing. It was for some charity event in school and Junmyeon and his friend performed the song for one whole week with a horde of girls (plus Kris) swooning over their voices (while in Kris’ case, Junmyeon’s voice) and the duo managed to collect twice as much as their targeted amount.

As soon as Junmyeon finished, Kris stood up and clapped his hands excitedly to which the smaller male basked in by bowing politely as if he had just performed in front of a huge crowd.

“You’re amazing, Junmyeon!” Kris genuinely praised the other whose face was blushing like a tomato. The pale male had accidentally slipped up that he loved to sing while they were resting on the rooftop garden (where there was thankfully no one else present) and the giant had _pleaded_ for him to sing a song for him. Really, Junmyeon had not demonstrated his singing ability to anyone before in a very long time because he was too embarrassed to admit. And now, he actually felt really good that he sang and to receive such a warm, genuine reception (even though it was just one person).

Junmyeon rubbed the back of his neck shyly. “Thanks! Baekhyun and I made that song for charity, and a lot of people in our school seemed to like it.”

“Oh yeah you and Baekhyun did a very good job,” Kris agreed.

Junmyeon perked up when Kris sounded like he recognized Baekhyun and the song which was only possible if Kris had attended the same high school as them.

“Yeah. I really miss Baekhyun though. I wonder how he’s doing…” Junmyeon continued. For some reason, Kris bristled, as if irritated by Junmyeon’s interest in Baekhyun.

“Baekhyun’s doing fine! He’s working as a music producer,” Kris snapped.

Junmyeon was about to ask the taller how did he know when Kris stood up and seized the shorter male by his arm.

“Wha-” Junmyeon was shocked when Kris pulled him to sit back down on his seat. Kris then took his position to stand a few feet from the smaller male.

“Umm…Kris?” Junmyeon eyed the taller male worriedly when the latter focused his gaze on the ground.

“Since you sang, I’m going to perform as well,” Kris said, still not facing the smaller male.

“You don’t have to force yourself, Kris. But I would love to see what you can do,” Junmyeon replied with a soft smile.

 “O-Okay. But, d-don’t laugh, okay?” Kris blushed heavily. Giggling, Junmyeon sat straighter in his seat as he watched the taller male stand awkwardly on his own, seeming uncertain. 

“Y-You have to do something for me,” Kris said after a while.

“What is it now?” Junmyeon asked, faking his anger.

“Y-You have to say ‘E-X-O’.”

“But why?”

“Just do it.”

“Fine….”

Sighing, Junmyeon complied in a bored voice, “E-X-O.”

As if on cue, Kris immediately started rapping in Chinese.

_Wo xiang yao ba ni guan man wo de hou_

_Quan shen dou zai chan dou   jiu suan he de zai duo yong yuan dou bu gou_

_Du xing yi jing man yan cong tou dao jiao   dan wo bu qu zhao jia_

_Xiang shou  zhe zhe zhong ci ji   na me tong kuai I can’t stop_

Dramatically covering his face partially with his large hand, Kris focused his glance on the ground, embarrassed. He had never rapped in a very long time and it was more of a guilty pleasure. The only other person who knew of his embarrassing pastime was Chanyeol and even his best friend loved to mock his rapping voice.

_What if Junmyeon didn’t like it? What if he thought I was lame?_

Soon, his doubts were cleared when he heard the sound of an enthusiastic applause. He gingerly lifted his gaze to witness Junmyeon’s genuinely captivated expression.

“Wow! You sound so good! Was that in Chinese?”

“Y-Yeah…really…it sounds good?”

“I don’t know about you, but you sounded cool when you rapped! Only when you rapped of course!” Junmyeon added the last part teasingly.

A smirk crept into Kris’ face. “So, most of the time, I’m not cool?”

“Yup!”

Slowly, Kris approached the unsuspecting male. “Well, I’ve got one idea to change your mind…”

“And what is that?” Junmyeon challenged him.

“It’s….this!” At once, Kris ran towards to the smaller male, caging the other male in his arms and tickling him mercilessly. Laughs and giggles started to erupt from Junmyeon as he futilely tried to escape from Kris’ cage. They both laughed in unison before they noticed that their faces were in close proximity with each other, their noses almost touching. They stared into each other’s eyes intensely before they slowly leaned into each other.

But, Kris closed their distance quickly, kissing the other male fiercely. Caught off guard at first, Junmyeon composed himself and kissed back with equal intensity. The pretty male felt his head being cradled gently by the other. After a while, they parted for air. Just when Kris was about to dive in for another kiss, Junmyeon lightly pushed him away.

“Kris...we can’t do this…”

Frustrated, Kris retorted, “Why? Didn’t you kiss me back? Isn’t that proof that you’re feeling the same way about me the way I feel about you?”

Junmyeon flinched at the harsh tone of the other.

“Yes, I do have growing feelings for you...” Junmyeon admitted, averting his gaze. Truthfully, he did want to go deeper with his relationship with Kris, but for some odd reason, he was rejecting it. Maybe it's because he wanted to be certain if Kris is indeed Kevin so he quickly made up an excuse. “But…you’re still my buyer. And I don’t want our relationship to be based on this screwed up thing.”

Pulling back, Kris raked his blonde hair with his fingers, sighing heavily. He remained silent for a few moments before opening his eyes but not facing the smaller male directly.

“Fine. I understand.”

* * *

Kris felt disappointed, even more so when Junmyeon chose to sit at the backseat on the way back home. And this could mean one thing. The both of them would not be in speaking terms for an unspecified period of time. It felt as if he was back in square one, when they acted like strangers when Junmyeon was first brought to his home. Just when they were getting along so well…

Just like before, there was a line drawn between them. It seemed that nothing had changed since back then. Maybe the universe is telling him that he and Junmyeon were not meant to be together after all.


	17. Guiding Light

“Should I be worried?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Worried about what?” Junmyeon responded without even facing Kyungsoo.

He and Kyungsoo were now walking around the city square aimlessly with no destination in mind. It was in the late afternoon, lunch break having just ended so the city square was not crowded with people and there were plenty of vacant benches around. In front of the fountain that was located in the centre of the city square, a clown was gleefully giving out colourful balloons to people passing by him, children in particular.

“About whatever is happening between you and Kris. You guys have been avoiding each other recently. Is everything alright?”

Sighing heavily, Junmyeon stopped in his tracks. Honestly, Junmyeon only wanted to leave the house for some fresh air after purposely shutting himself in his own room to avoid Kris. It was the perfect chance to go out as Kris had gone for work that day and Junmyeon wanted some company too so he had asked Kyungsoo out since Jongin had gone out with his friends. Junmyeon had predicted that Kyungsoo, being the astute and inquisitive person he is, would definitely question him about the tension between him and Kris but he had not expected Kyungsoo to ask so soon.

“Nothing,” Junmyeon said stubbornly.

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “Something _did_ happen. You have to tell me, Jun. Otherwise, I won’t prepare any servings for you for our future meals.”

Junmyeon sighed exasperatedly. Who would’ve thought that Kyungsoo would be so annoyingly persistent to the point of using short-handed tactics to force out the truth from him?

“Fine! Me and Kris went out the other day ‘cos Kris wanted to buy me a phone. After that, we had a lot of time to kill so we fooled around. Things led to another and we ended up kissing each other. That’s what happened. Happy?”

“You two kissed?” Kyungsoo echoed in disbelief, his eyes widening.

“Say it out loud for the whole world to hear you, why don’t you…”Junmyeon grumbled.

“Sorry…I didn’t mean that. I was shocked,” Kyungsoo said honestly before frowning. “So, you guys kissed. Why are you being so antsy about it? Kris didn’t force you, did he?”

“No. He initiated it,” Junmyeon clarified.  He hesitated before continuing quietly, “And I kissed back. The attraction is mutual between us.”

“So what is the problem then?”

Kyungsoo was answered with a long-suffering sigh from Junmyeon. The pale male suddenly turned and walked away without a word. Startled, Kyungsoo trailed after Junmyeon who settled down on an empty bench. Kyungsoo took a seat beside the pale male and waited.

“I think Kris is hiding something from me,” Junmyeon spoke finally.

Kyungsoo’s face scrunched in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Junmyeon sighed once more. “There’s this guy that I was close with in high school. His name is Kevin Li. He’s tall, stoic and has a resting bitch expression. He’s also kind, nice and has a cute gummy smile. And lately, Kris has been reminding me a lot of Kevin. And Kris knows special things about me that only Kevin knows and I have a feeling that they’re the same person for some reason. But the problem is that whenever I bring up a topic of Kevin to Kris, Kris always avoid the topic. And it’s frustrating me!”

Junmyeon groaned as he buried his face into his hands. Meanwhile, Kyungsoo watched the pale male with pity. He wanted to tell Junmyeon that he was indeed right that Kris and Kevin are the same person but he had promised Kris not to reveal that to the pale male.

“What if Kevin has a twin and had never told me?” Junmyeon suddenly said. “What if Kevin himself was not aware that he had a twin and the twin killed him off after taking his memories? What if Kris is from another planet and took over Kevin’s body and renamed himself ‘Kris’? What if-”

“Junmyeon,” Kyungsoo stopped him before the pale male had a panic attack. “Calm down.”

Sighing dejectedly, Junmyeon hung his head low, his shoulders slumped. “What am I supposed to do now, Soo?”

“I…don’t know,” Kyungsoo offered pathetically as he placed a comforting hand on Junmyeon’s shoulder. “I guess one solution is to wait until the truth comes to you if you’re meant to know.”

Silence then enveloped between the pair. The clown who was giving out balloons earlier approached them. On closer look, the clown’s face was fully covered with makeup, from his heavy eyeliner to a red lipstick on and around his lips. It looked frightening the longer you stare at his face.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen! Today is such a beautiful sunny day and it bothers me how you two handsome fellows look so gloomy! How about I turn your frowns upside down, what say you?” the clown said cheerfully.

“I’m sorry. We’re not in the mood,” Kyungsoo answered honestly.

“Oh I insist.”

“Just leave us alone,” Kyungsoo frowned.

“A lot of people have told me that my voice is so soothing that they temporarily forget about their problems.”

“Fine. Do what you want,” Kyungsoo sighed.

“You won’t regret it, sirs,” the clown said as he eyed Junmyeon.

The clown then began to sing.

_Can you believe it, in my dreams_

_You’re my princess that has fallen in my magic_

_My gestures towards you_

_Are always so difficult for me_

_‘Hmm…it does sound good,’_ Kyungsoo thought to himself. As the clown showed no signs of stopping, Kyungsoo became annoyed and was about to yell at him to stop when suddenly, to his shock, another voice joined in. Wide-eyed, Kyungsoo watched as Junmyeon lifted his head and picked up the song where the clown left off.

_However, it’s always just a hard promise_

_Saying that I’m going to save you again_

_I put my hands together and prayed_

_For endless courage and wisdom_

Kyungsoo’s jaw went slack. He did not know whether to be surprised that Junmyeon could sing so well or that Junmyeon and the clown were smiling at each other so endearingly. Before the shocked male could express his surprise, Junmyeon stopped singing and jumped up. His smile grew broader as he regarded the clown with familiarity.

“Byun Baekhyun?”

“That’s me!” the clown beamed before hugging the pale male. “It’s nice to see you again, hyung!”

“It’s nice to see you too!” Junmyeon pulled back from the hug to stare at the other incredulously. “But why are you dressed like a clown? You work as a clown now?”

“Oh no no,” Baekhyun waved a hand in front of his face. “I’m just filling in for a friend who called in sick today.”

Baekhyun then placed his hands on his hips. “Anyway, why are you looking so sad? Did this midget upset you?”

Kyungsoo frowned at the offensive term directed at him.

“Oh none of that sort, I assure you. Anyway, Kyungsoo, meet Baekhyun. Baekhyun, Kyungsoo,” Junmyeon introduced them.

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo both shook hands with each other.

“Nice to meet you!” Baekhyun exclaimed.

“Hmm,” was all that Kyungsoo offered.

Baekhyun darted his eyes between the pair. “So you two are friends?”

“Yeah, we’re friends,” Junmyeon responded.

“With benefits?” Baekhyun added cheekily.

Kyungsoo’s frown deepened while Junmyeon burst into laughter at Baekhyun’s crude joke.

“Nothing like that. Me and Soo just live together that’s all,” Junmyeon clarified.

At that, Baekhyun’s smile dropped. “You guys live together? Just you two?”

“Oh no. There are other people living in it,” Junmyeon clarified once more.

“So you guys hold a weekly orgy or something,” Baekhyun joked which caused Kyungsoo to roll his eyes.

Junmyeon laughed heartily at that. “Gosh Baek…even after all these years you still have a dirty mind! No, we don’t engage in those. Besides, Kyungsoo has a boyfriend who’s staying with us for the meantime since he’s having his summer break.”

As much as Kyungsoo found his newly-made friend annoying, Kyungsoo found it interesting how Baekhyun’s face washed with relief at Junmyeon’s response before smiling broadly.

“I see. Anyway, my shift has just ended. Let’s go out for lunch and catch up,” Baekhyun said.

“Yeah sure. You don’t mind, do you Soo?” Junmyeon faced Kyungsoo with an expectant look.

Kyungsoo noticed how Baekhyun had also looked at him but with a sour look as if he just remembered that he was there.

“Nope.” It was only for a split second but Kyungsoo caught how Baekhyun pursed his lips into a thin line before forcing a smile while Junmyeon cheered, oblivious to his surroundings. 

* * *

The trio went to eat lunch in a Korean BBQ restaurant with an all-you-can-eat buffet. At first, Junmyeon and Kyungsoo felt uncertain about stepping inside since it was a rather expensive restaurant but Baekhyun assured them that he would be giving them a treat.

“So, what are you doing now, Baek?” Junmyeon asked while they were waiting for their raw meat to be cooked properly.

“I’m working as a music producer. How ‘bout you?” Junmyeon noted that Kris was indeed right about Baekhyun’s current occupation.

“I’m unemployed,” Junmyeon answered.

“You know you once told me you shared the same dream as me of being a music producer.”

“Things change I guess,” Junmyeon gave a shrug.

“Anyway, my job is so fun. Not only do I get to do what I love, I also get to see handsome guys from time to time,” Baekhyun said. Kyungsoo quietly observed how Baekhyun was watching Junmyeon intently, as if gauging the pale male’s reaction.

“Oh? Anyone that caught your interest yet?” Junmyeon said airily as he sipped his iced tea.

“Some of them are seriously good looking but they can never compare to this person who’s been in my mind for years,” Baekhyun admitted before his eyes softened.

“Years? Woah…wonder who this lucky person is,” Junmyeon perked up, interested in this new revelation.

“Actually, the person who would be with him is the lucky one. Anyone who lets him slip past their fingers are truly dumb.”

“Have you confessed to him yet?”

“No,” Baekhyun said softly. “The truth is…I’ve finally met him after a long time.”

“Well, you should tell him quickly while he’s still single then,” Junmyeon said as he placed some of the fully-cooked meat onto his plate.

“Yeah I will. Thanks,” Baekhyun murmured.

The conversation then turned into a lull, the only sounds were the sizzling from the grill and the noisy chatter from the other patrons in the restaurant.

“Are you seeing anyone, hyung?” Baekhyun suddenly asked. Kyungsoo noted how Baekhyun looked uncharacteristically nervous as he awaited Junmyeon’s answer.

“Nope.”

While Junmyeon was stuffing his face with food, Baekhyun breathed a sigh of relief while silently pumping his fist. By now, Kyungsoo was absolutely certain that the person who is in Baekhyun’s mind for a long time with is Junmyeon. Unfortunately, Junmyeon was dense of the other’s obvious feelings for him just like how he was dense with Kris’ obvious advances. Kyungsoo shook his head lightly. Junmyeon has to learn to be more alert lest he would unintentionally lead his admirers on.

As the two old friends chatted with each other about their high school, Kyungsoo ate silently and responded only when addressed. He learnt that Junmyeon and Baekhyun were from the same music class and did plenty of recitals together. Unlike them, Kyungsoo did not have much to talk about his own high school experience. It wasn’t even a memorable one, let alone a happy one. The only good thing was meeting Jongin.

However, Kyungsoo’s ears perked up when they started talking about their former school mates, one person in particular.

“Hey Baek, did you know what happened to Kevin?” Junmyeon asked.

“Kevin? You mean Kevin Li?” Baekhyun asked, earning a nod from the pale male. “Well, I _do_ know he’s alive. But he doesn’t go by Kevin Li anymore. He changed his name.”

“Oh? What did he change it into?” Junmyeon leaned forward, his eyes brightening with curiosity.

“He changed it to-”

“Ah!” Kyungsoo suddenly yelled, causing the other two to jump and other patrons to stare at them briefly. “We’re all out of samgyeopsal.”

“Okay. You don’t have to shout, Soo.” Junmyeon frowned at the other who was smiling sheepishly at him. “Besides, there are still some left.”

“Sorry. I suddenly have an intense craving for it. Jun, can you get some for me?” Kyungsoo gave his best puppy-eyes expression.

“Yeah sure,” Junmyeon sighed. Kyungsoo gave a fake smile as Junmyeon proceeded to leave the table with the plate. The smile dropped after Kyungsoo was certain that Junmyeon was out of earshot.

Kyungsoo gave a pointed look at the frowning Baekhyun, dropping his voice. “Kris is living with us. Don’t tell Jun that Kris changed his name from Kevin.”

Baekhyun’s eye went as wide as saucers. “What?”

“I said, Kris doesn’t want Junmyeon to know that he’s Kevin!”

“Fuck!” Baekhyun cursed loudly, causing Kyungsoo to flinch.

Baekhyun banged his head on the table loudly. “Why does this have to happen?” Baekhyun mumbled into the tablecloth before raising his head. “I was so excited when I read the news that Junmyeon’s wedding with Yixing was cancelled. I thought Fate is giving me a chance with Junmyeon and now there’s one big obstacle. Fuck!”

Kyungsoo was confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Junmyeon is in love with Kevin. Back in high school.”

This time it was Kyungsoo whose eyes widened dramatically. “Wasn’t Junmyeon in love with Yixing then?”

Baekhyun shook his head. “No. Back then, Junmyeon never had any real feelings for Yixing at all. Junmyeon did have a massive crush on Kevin. I think he still does.”

“Then why did Junmyeon ended up with Yixing to the point of getting engaged?”

“That’s for me to know and for you to _never_ find out,” Baekhyun hissed. Kyungsoo opened his mouth to say something but closed it when Junmyeon returned with two plates full of samgyeopsal.

“Is anything the matter? You guys didn’t fight when I was away, did you?” Junmyeon inquired, noting the bristled expressions from the two.

Baekhyun forced a smile. “Nope! Everything’s fine! Right, Kyungsoo?”

Kyungsoo let out a small yelp when he felt Baekhyun kicking him. “Y-Yeah nothing bad happened.”

When Junmyeon wasn’t looking, Kyungsoo shot a glare at Baekhyun who gave him a superior look. 

* * *

After having their lunch, the trio went to walk around the shopping mall. It was when they passed by a boutique shop that suddenly Kyungsoo grew nervous.

“What’s wrong, Soo?” Junmyeon asked.

“My wallet…I can’t find it!” Kyungsoo panicked as he felt his pockets.

“Maybe you dropped it back in the restaurant,” Baekhyun suggested while giving an uninterested look.

“Yeah maybe I did,” Kyungsoo trailed off before narrowing his eyes at Baekhyun. It suddenly occurred to him that it was Baekhyun who might have stolen his wallet and left it in the restaurant.

“Why don’t you go there? Baekhyun and I will wait for you here,” Junmyeon told him.

When Kyungsoo had taken the escalator up, Baekhyun quickly grabbed Junmyeon’s hand and led him somewhere. Junmyeon had a hard time shaking the tight grip away and it was only after Baekhyun had led them to the basement carpark that the latter loosened his grip.

“What the hell was that about?” Junmyeon was angry.

Baekhyun looked apologetic. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I have something to tell you personally, hyung.”

Junmyeon’s expression softened when he noted how serious Baekhyun looked. “What is it? You know you can tell hyung anything.”

“Well if you say so. Here goes,” Baekhyun took a deep breath before taking Junmyeon’s hands into his. “Junmyeon-hyung. I love you.”

“Huh?” Junmyeon tilted his head in confusion.

“I love you. So much.” Baekhyun cupped the older’s face before leaning in and covering Junmyeon’s lips with his. Shocked beyond words, Junmyeon froze. Suddenly, an image of Kris flashed across Junmyeon’s mind.

Angered, Junmyeon grabbed the other’s shoulders and pushed him away roughly. Junmyeon then slapped Baekhyun hard across the cheek, the harsh sound shocking Junmyeon out of his trance.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry, Baek!” Junmyeon apologized. “It’s just…you caught me off-guard.”

“It’s alright hyung. I’m the one who’s at fault. I shouldn’t that without warning you first,” Baekhyun admitted as he winced at his sore cheek. Who knew his hyung possessed such strength?

“Still, I shouldn’t have slapped you,” Junmyeon added.

“Like I said, it’s okay,” Baekhyun assured him. “I just want to ask you, hyung. Were you thinking of someone else when I kissed you?”

That question caused Junmyeon to blush heavily and it was made more obvious with Junmyeon’s pale complexion. Apparently, that was all the answer Baekhyun needed. Baekhyun was not surprised if Kris had kissed Junmyeon before him. It seemed that Junmyeon still harboured a crush at Kevin.

Baekhyun smiled at the pale male, “Just now, I was interrupted by Kyungsoo who told me not to tell you that Kevin Li goes by Kris Wu now.”

Junmyeon’s eyes widened at that. “W-What?”

“So, it’s true…Kris is indeed Kevin,” Junmyeon repeated. From the bewildered expression that the other was sporting, Baekhyun thought he would start to hyperventilate. But, Junmyeon bloomed into a relieved smile instead. “I knew it. I’m so glad to know that.”

“After you met a guy named Kevin in the library while hiding Michael, you told me you had a crush on him, did you remember that, hyung? You’ve been secretly pining for him since then even to the point of staring at him when he was studying with Yixing. Then after Michael got kidnapped, there was some bloody brawl that happened on the rooftop and that’s when the rumours about Kevin being some Chinese mob leader was circulating. So, you never dared to pursue Kevin ‘cos of the rumours and deluded yourself into thinking that you loved Yixing when you weren’t,” Baekhyun recounted as Junmyeon listened intently. Junmyeon felt like kicking himself for believing such groundless rumours back then. Kevin was kind and fiercely protective of the people he cared about. Kevin only resorted to violence because Junmyeon and Michael were placed in danger.

“What if I tell you that it was Yixing, Kevin’s own best friend who started those rumours ‘cos Yixing likes you too and wants you for himself?” Baekhyun said.

Junmyeon was shocked. “It was Yixing all along?”

“Yes, it is,” Baekhyun admitted bitterly. “I only found out the day we graduated. I wanted to tell you but before I could, you had already left and changed your number.”

To Baekhyun’s surprise, Junmyeon hugged him. “It’s okay, Baek. Thanks for telling me this. I appreciate it.”

“So, what’re you going to do now that you know the truth, hyung?” Baekhyun asked after Junmyeon released him.

Junmyeon sighed. “To be honest, I don’t know.”

“You have another chance to pursue him, hyung. The universe is giving you a chance to get back with the guy you truly loved back then. Did you remember that you even prepared a song to confess to him? We worked on it together, remember?” Baekhyun urged him.

 “Yes, I do. But, I have something else that I want to confirm first,” Junmyeon said, determination shining in his eyes.

Baekhyun smiled, as if he had inkling what the pale man meant by those words. “Do it, hyung. I’ll support you all the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Magic Castle is the song that Subaek sang during their stint as MCs in Inkigayo. And this chapter is titled 'Guiding Light' cos Baekhyun was the 'guide' that steered Junmyeon to the right direction. And his Mama power is 'Light'. lol. By now, the end-game couple is pretty apparent. Or is it? ;)


	18. Mr. Galaxy

Kris sighed wistfully as he trudged along the front yard leading to his house. All week he had been feeling quite listless because Junmyeon had been doing a great job in ignoring him. The pale male would scurry away elsewhere every time they happened to be in the same room.

Kris wondered how long the cold shoulder was going to last. He did not regret what he did that fateful day. He did not regret kissing the pretty male. (Though he did regret about his outburst when his second kiss was rejected.) And he was certainly not dreaming that Junmyeon kissed him back. To Kris, that confirmed that they both have mutual feelings for each other.

As much as Kris wanted to reveal to Junmyeon that he was Kevin, Kris couldn’t because Kevin was a past that he very much wanted to forget. An identity that he wanted to leave behind. Kevin was an embarrassing past rife with mistakes and flaws.

Kris sighed again. How else was he going to convince Junmyeon that he was not some random buyer?

A huge surprise greeted him when he opened the door. A surprise in the form of a rather cute Kim Junmyeon clad in a pink sweater and blue jeans.

“Kris! Welcome back home!” Junmyeon warmly greeted the giant. Totally unprepared for this set of events, Kris could only react with a wide-eyed and slack-jawed expression.

Before Kris could even verbalize a response, he felt his arm being pulled till he was led to the couch. When Junmyeon let go, Kris was about to ask a question but was cut off and unceremoniously pushed down to sit on the couch. As tiny as Junmyeon looks, he actually possesses quite a great deal of strength. Kris finds it extremely endearing.

Since forming responses was hopeless for Kris at that moment, the blonde just settled on observing Junmyeon’s angelic face. However, Kris felt worried when he noticed the troubled expression in Junmyeon’s face.

“Junmyeon, what’s wrong?” Kris mentally congratulated himself for not stumbling over his words.

“Eh? Nothing, nothing!” Junmyeon waved his hands frantically in front of him. “Erm…Kris, I’m sorry for giving you the cold shoulder all week. It’s not you, it’s me. S-so I bought you a sketchbook as an apology gift. I remember that you told me that you love to draw.”

Junmyeon shyly handed a sketchbook with cute zoo animals adorning its cover page.

“T-Thanks,” Kris blushed as he accepted the sketchbook.

Junmyeon fidgeted, pulling the hem of his sweater.

‘So cute!’ Kris screamed in his mind.

“Is something wrong?”

Junmyeon bravely lifted his gaze to meet Kris’. “I was wondering…if you could maybe draw me a few things?”

“I don’t mind.”

“R-Really? That’s amazing! I can’t really wait to see your drawings, Kris,” Junmyeon squealed.

Kris chuckled as he reached over the table to grab a pencil. “Don’t expect too much. People around me think my drawings are lame but I’m proud of them.”

Kris flipped to a fresh page in his sketchbook. “What do you want me to draw?”

“Draw me an alpaca, a dragon, a rabbit, and… _me_ ,” Junmyeon shyly added the last request.

“Okay!” Kris said before starting to draw. As minutes passed, Junmyeon had a silly grin on his face as he watched Kris being totally immersed in his drawings. Junmyeon loves Kris’ habit of sticking his tongue out in concentration and Junmyeon was sure that Kris had no idea about this cute habit of his.

“Done!” Kris smiled proudly at his masterpieces while Junmyeon clapped his hands in excitement.  In an instant, Junmyeon examined the drawings, his eyes shining with admiration.

“What do you think?” Kris nervously asked. Rather belatedly, Kris had realized that Junmyeon might not respond favourably to his drawings. Kris had been too excited to show the pale male his ‘skills’ that he failed to think things through. Everyone he had met mocked his drawings. Heck even his grandmother made fun of them.

“These are…perfect. Simply perfect. They’re really amazing, Kris,” Junmyeon responded, his eyes resting on Kris’ ‘portrait’ of him – a stick figure with a halo above his head. Junmyeon glanced up to look at Kris. “Thank you, Kris. Oh look at the time. I have to go out with Kyungsoo to stock up our fridge. Bye!”

Junmyeon quickly tore the page and hugged it close to his chest like a precious treasure as he left Kris alone on the couch.

“Sure. Bye,” Kris smiled as he watched Junmyeon hurriedly leaving the house. When Junmyeon closed the door behind him, Kris glanced back at his newly-gifted sketchbook. Suddenly, Kris whipped his head around, eyes searching for the pale male. But Junmyeon had already left.

He had never told Junmyeon that he loves to draw. 

* * *

_Everyone had went off for their recess break but here Junmyeon was, sitting in his seat alone in his classroom. Yixing had been acting really grumpy and cold lately and all Junmyeon could do was mope by the lack of attention and care from his boyfriend. Earlier, he had went straight to the student council room only to be chased out by Yixing with the reason that he was “being such a bother”. Usually, Yixing would act pleasantly surprised by his presence and welcomed him in. To be honest, Yixing had started to act strangely after his mother passed away but for some reason, Yixing was not opening up to him with whatever problems he’s having._

_Sighing sadly, Junmyeon propped his elbows on his table, placing his chin on his hands. He was feeling utterly miserable and lonely. Nothing could cheer him up right now. Not even his bunny pencil case, math exercise book, this flashy card littered with glitter glue…wait what?_

_Curious, the pale male reached out to grab the pretty-looking card, admiring the words glitter-adorned ‘Cheer Up!’ in messily-written Hangul before flipping it around. There, there were more words written in gold, saying ‘I’ve noticed that you’ve been looking rather sad lately! I just want to say that things will get better in the days ahead and that I, your guardian angel, will always be watching over you! So, lift your chin up and smile, you cute bunny! –From Mr. Galaxy’ and at the bottom of the card was a small drawing of a bunny._

_To a normal person, the bunny would look like an ugly doodle of some unknown creature (and did not even look remotely close to a bunny) but somehow, Junmyeon was able to recognize the animal. A smile automatically tugged on his lips. He quickly tore a piece of blank paper from his math book and jotted down his reply on it. Still beaming happily, he placed it under his desk so that it would not fly away or be mistaken for trash. Before leaving the classroom, Junmyeon safely tucked his guardian angel’s letter in between the pages of his planner._

_The next day, Junmyeon was pleasantly surprised to find another flashy card perched on his desk. This time it said, ‘OMG everyone says my drawings are bad! But u r the only one who praises them and even recognizes what I’m drawing! Thank you! ^_^ How are you today? Hopefully u r feeling better now! – Mr. Galaxy’ with a sketch of a dragon below it and an arrow pointing towards it saying ‘this is my fav animal!’._

_From that day on, Junmyeon continuously wrote his replies to Mr. Galaxy. He enjoyed talking with this mysterious man as it really uplifted his spirits and made him briefly forget about his constant quarrels with Yixing. Junmyeon and Mr. Galaxy talked about anything under the sun, just knowing each other more and Junmyeon found himself revealing parts of himself that he had not shown to others, surprising Junmyeon himself. Mr. Galaxy was just an easy person to talk to. Junmyeon was very certain that his guardian angel was not Yixing and his boyfriend’s recent grumpy personality would definitely clash with these heartfelt messages._

_Not only that, Junmyeon had a bad habit of not having his breakfast and the always caring Mr. Galaxy would leave packets of biscuits and a bottled water along with his card of the day. On some days, there would be a container containing fruits on the table or cute stationery as rewards for his outstanding test results and grades. Mr. Galaxy had some sort became his protector. His ‘guardian angel’ as Mr. Galaxy himself had claimed._

_As days passed, Junmyeon grew curious of the true identity of Mr. Galaxy. Was he someone he knew? Did he share any classes with him? Junmyeon felt like telling about his guardian angel to Kevin since Kevin had been the person he’s hanging out more than Yixing himself but Mr. Galaxy did request him not to mention him to anybody and Junmyeon did promised him so the pale male ended up keeping it to himself._

_However, one day, Junmyeon found Yixing standing by his desk with a furious expression on his face. Junmyeon was about to voice a greeting to his boyfriend when he spotted a familiar flashy paper in Yixing’s tight grip._

_“That’s mine!” Junmyeon tried to snatch the paper away but Yixing raised it further from his reach._

_“From now on, you can never talk to this ‘Mr. Galaxy’ ever again!” Yixing ordered._

_Junmyeon fired back, “But I love talking to him! Why should I listen to you?”_

_Without warning, Yixing slapped him across the face, “Don’t you ever talk back at me! Whatever I say is final!”_

_With a huff, Yixing left the classroom, leaving Junmyeon stunned as he slowly cradled his cheek, tears brimming in his eyes._

_That was the first time Yixing had ever hit him._

“How could he just slap you? Man I wish I could give that guy a punch!” Baekhyun grumbled, thumping his fists together.

“He sounds like a jerk,” Kyungsoo agreed.

Junmyeon sighed. “Well, I’m no longer with him anymore. It’s water over the dam now. Besides, I just confirmed something big just now and I have something to show you guys.”

Junmyeon opened a carved wooden box before turning it around to reveal its contents to Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. Inside the box were a stack of coloured cards with handwritten notes and doodles on them.

“You kept all the cards from Mr. Galaxy?” Baekhyun sounded amazed.

Junmyeon nodded. “I kept them all inside this box and I managed to hide it from Yixing. Only me and some trustworthy butlers knew of this. When I arrived at Kris’ house for the first time, one of the butlers slid the box into my suitcase.”

Kyungsoo had grabbed the first card on the stack to closely examine it. He suddenly burst into laughter.

“What the heck is this!” Kyungsoo pointed to a deformed-looking creature drawn at the bottom of the card.

“It’s a cute bunny,” Junmyeon stated proudly.

Baekhyun peered into the card closely before he too roared with laughter. “I’ve seen two-year-old children drawing better than these!  These are horrible!”

“Right?” Kyungsoo joined in the laughter as the both of them looked at the drawings from the other cards.

“No…you guys are wrong. These are perfect. Absolutely perfect,” Junmyeon’s eyes sparkled with admiration. “My guardian angel draws like a true artist. And that’s not all. I asked Kris to draw for me these same creatures and they are the exact match.”

When Junmyeon showed them, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo gaped.

“So, from this, I confirmed that since Kris is Kevin, Kris is also ‘Mr Galaxy’. AKA my guardian angel!” Junmyeon squealed before looking at Kris’ drawings again.

“Look, Junmyeon-hyung is squealing. Hyung only squeals when he’s completely love-struck,” Baekhyun told Kyungsoo. “Hyung was behaving exactly like this when he was pining over Kevin back in high school.”

“Anywho, Kris sure hid his feelings from Junmyeon for a really long time,” Kyungsoo observed.

“It gets frustrating to see, trust me. Man, I wish he could just man up,” Baekhyun responded before glancing at the two sets of drawings again. “Yup you’re right, hyung. There’s no way it’s a coincidence that two people just happen to draw atrociously.”

 “So, Junmyeon-hyung, what’re you planning to do now?”

Junmyeon paused to think first before telling them his plan. Kyungsoo’s eyes widened at the truly ambitious plan while Baekhyun shot the pale male a huge supportive smile.

“How are you going to do all of that in less than a day?” Kyungsoo asked incredulously.

 Junmyeon grinned at his wide-eyed friend.

“Well, first, I’ll have to make a phone call.”


	19. Confession

Kris was enjoying his impromptu nap when he suddenly felt someone aggressively shaking his body.

“Hyung wake up!”

“Hmm…Jongin?” Kris squinted his eyes before he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Come on! We have to hurry. _You_ have to hurry,” Jongin yelled as he pulled the Kris’ hand in an attempt to forcefully drag the blonde out of his bed. However, Kris was feeling slightly grouchy, having his precious sleep rudely interrupted so he shrugged Jongin’s hold off.

“Jongin, what’s taking so long?” Another voice called out from outside his bedroom. Kris narrowed his eyes, his sleepy brain slowly registering the two people entering his bedroom now.

“Luhan? Sehun?” Kris thought he was imagining things so he rubbed his tired eyes once more.

“Yes it’s me! Your new friend, Luhan! And hopefully a successful matchmaker!” Luhan cheerfully said. Before Kris could open his mouth to respond, he felt Luhan fiercely shoving something into his chest.

“Wear this! And head straight to the lounge room after you’re done!” Luhan instructed. “No questions! Just wear it! And don’t take too long!”

And with that, Luhan quickly left his room, with Jongin and Sehun in tow. Even though Luhan had left him slightly rattled, Kris appreciated the pretty male for shutting the door behind him on the way out. Kris then lowered his gaze down to the pile of clothes in his arms. Spreading them out in front of him, Kris gasped in surprise when he realized that it was his high school uniform. Questions immediately swarmed Kris’ mind but then he remembered what Luhan had said before he left. Obviously, Kris wanted to know what the heck was going on but he decided to just go on with the flow. Sighing, Kris changed into his high school uniform.

After he was done, Kris admired himself in the mirror. The uniform was surprisingly a perfect fit and Kris could almost see himself from his high school days. At that moment, Kris had realized how much he had changed since then. And for the better. Kris recalled how drastically low in self-esteem he was back then, thinking that he would never amount to anything since he had absentee parents and absolutely no friends he could count on. Yes, he had become friends with Yixing but the latter quickly disappeared from his life in his final high school year. He also had his first ever crush during high school but he was too cowardly to even confess to Junmyeon and it resulted in Junmyeon getting together with Yixing. And then, they both gradually drifted away from him and his life. Kris shook his head rapidly. Now was not the time to mull over his past. Times have changed now. He’s now the CEO of one of the most well-known technology company in the whole world. He’s a massively successful and wealthy entrepreneur. But then, what’s success and wealth if you don’t have a partner to come home to everyday?

“Ugh…snap out of it, Kris. Stop overthinking things,” Kris smacked his forehead, but not hard enough to leave a mark. Kris took a deep breath as he straightened his uniform. He gave a confident nod to himself before leaving the room.

As Kris was about to descend the stairs to the lounge room, he spotted a familiar-looking coloured paper pasted on the handrail. Curious, he plucked it and read it. Eyes widening, he recognized it as the note he first sent to Junmyeon as ‘Mr. Galaxy’.

_Junmyeon still kept it?_

The coloured cards were pasted in a neat row till the end of the staircase below. The next paper was Junmyeon’s response – ‘Thank you for the kind words, Mr. Galaxy! I’ve cheered up a little thanks to you! – J.M.  P.S. I love your bunny drawing. It’s really good!’. Kris smiled to himself. He remembered how incredibly elated he was that Junmyeon left a reply and even praised his drawings. The next card was Kris’ reply and then Junmyeon’s before alternating with each other. At the bottom of the stairs was the last note he had given to Junmyeon before Yixing had intercepted. Kris gave a sombre smile at that.

“Kris!” A voice called out his name. Kris whipped his head upward to find Luhan, Sehun and Jongin sitting comfortably on the couch. Similar to him, all of them were clad in their own high school uniform. Kris frowned. Was there some costume party happening in his house that he was not informed of?

Luhan quickly pulled Kris forward till the latter sat at the centre of the couch.

“Luhan, what the heck is happening here?” Kris wanted to know.

“Just calm your tits, Kris. Everything is going to make sense in a while,” Luhan planted his hands on his hips, looking rather sassy. He then swerved his gaze to the front before giving a couple of claps. “Okay, guys! Ready, set, action!”

Suddenly, the lights went off. Kris expected the place to be shrouded in complete darkness but he gaped in shock when he gazed upwards. The ceiling was dotted with a galaxy of pin-sized microscopic glow-in-the-dark stars. Kris broke into a huge smile, exposing his gums. It was so beautiful and so magical. As Kris scanned the ceiling, he could locate some constellations like Orion and Scorpius. Whoever pasted the galaxy on the ceiling knew what they were doing.

Kris was then pulled out of his amazement when music suddenly started playing. His eyes searched for the source when they landed on his former high school mate, widening in response.

“Byun Baekhyun?” Kris yelled in surprise and Luhan quickly shushed him. Just like the rest of them, Baekhyun also donned his high school uniform. However, Kris found it infuriating how the younger’s eyes were coated with heavy eyeliner.

_What the hell this Diva doing in my house? And why is he holding a microphone? Don’t tell me…_

Kris’ unspoken question was answered when Baekhyun started singing.

_As if I was reborn as a child who doesn’t know anything_

Just when Kris was about to yell at him to get out and leave, Kris’ heart stopped beating when the next singer presented himself.

_I was afraid it was a dream, so I closed my eyes and opened them again_

_To find myself standing before you like I’ve desperately prayed for_

Junmyeon was looking absolutely radiant and angelic with his styled hair and even when he was also wearing his school uniform. When he was singing his second line, he gestured his hand towards Kris whose face automatically turned beet red like a tomato. Beside the blushing male, Jongin gave a loud cheer when the next singer appeared.

_I want to walk side by side with you, just once_

_Just once_

“That’s my boyfriend!” Jongin proudly said to Sehun, who was sitting beside him. The three singers then sang together as one.

_As your guardian, I will block out that strong wind (I’m eternally in love)_

_Even if everyone turns their backs against you_

Kris held back a scream when Junmyeon sauntered towards him, brushing Kris’ cheek gently with his knuckles as the pale male sang his line.

_On hard days, I will wipe away your tears_

Slowly, Junmyeon dropped to his knees in front of Kris, his gaze locked with the giant’s.

_If only I could be that kind of person_

_Wherever we go, it will be heaven_

The three singers sang the final lines but the music kept on playing at a lowered volume.

Glancing up at him, Junmyeon gave a broad smile to Kris who beamed back. Junmyeon’s heart fluttered when he saw the charming gummy smile.

_This is it._

The pale male composed himself before he started to speak, as the other people in the room watched in anticipation.

“Kris, first of all I want to apologize to you. I’m sorry that I denied my feelings for you back then and made you wait for so long. I’m sorry for believing those groundless rumours even when deep in my heart, I know that you are a kind and caring person. I hope more than anything that you will please forgive me. And, thank you for patiently waiting for me. I love you, Kris. I’ve loved you ever since the first time I met you in the library. I even wrote you a song back then and you’ve just heard us perform that song. I know I’m seven years late but from now on, I’m going to make the rest of our days count. Only if you would accept me. Kris Wu, will you be my boyfriend?”

When Junmyeon had stopped talking, everyone waited for Kris’ response with bated breath. Throughout his confession, Junmyeon never tore his gaze away from Kris who held his gaze. The both of them seemed to be having an intense staring contest. The anticipation was building up.

Everyone’s hearts skipped a beat when Kris suddenly stood up.

“Stand up,” Kris ordered at the pale male who was still kneeling on the floor.

Shakily, Junmyeon stood up and stared unblinkingly at the giant.

“You’re so cute when you’re nervous,” Kris smiled down at Junmyeon. Before Junmyeon could respond, Kris leaned down to kiss him. At that, everyone else in the room erupted into cheers as the more excitable ones were jumping up and down.

When Kris pulled back, Junmyeon squeaked a question. “So is that a ‘yes’?”

Kris chuckled to himself. “Does this answer your question?”

And with that, Kris dived down for another kiss and Junmyeon happily returned it, wrapping his arms around the giant, the cheers around them growing louder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  Angel is sung by Baekhyun, Suho and D.O in their MAMA EXO-K album. 
> 
> Next chapter will be a special chapter and after that, it will be the final leg for this story! 


	20. [Special Chapter] Preparation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter happens between chapter 18 and 19.

_“How are you going to do all of that in less than a day?” Kyungsoo asked incredulously._

_Junmyeon grinned at his wide-eyed friend._

_“Well, first, I’ll have to make a phone call.”_

* * *

Kyungsoo really believed that Junmyeon’s plan was very ambitious. Actually, it was damn near impossible to achieve in less than a day. The plan had consisted of everyone involved wearing their respective high school uniform and pasting a galaxy of tiny glow-in-the-dark stars that form constellations, with a particular focus on Scorpius since Kris was a Scorpio. The former was because Junmyeon regretted not confessing to Kris during their high school days so the uniforms serve to paint the setting as a school. Not only that, Junmyeon had also planned to sing the song he had written for Kris back in high school, and Kyungsoo and Baekhyun were supposed to sing with him!

Had he known this was going to happen, Kyungsoo would not have sang ballads while cooking in the kitchen, especially when there had been a certain pale male who was listening in intently. But then again, it’s for the best as Kyungsoo would be helping in getting Kris and Junmyeon together. Also, it would be great to leave Jongin a memory of him singing somewhat professionally before returning to Ireland.

While Kyungsoo was consumed in his thoughts, Junmyeon perked up and waved his hand to attract his ‘special friend’, or so he had claimed, to their table. According to Junmyeon, his special friend had a lot of connections so he would be in charge of retrieving the high school uniform.

“I’m glad you could make it, Zitao!” Junmyeon stood up to hug the tall male.

“Of course. Anything for you, hyung,” the male who was also known as Tao smiled down at the grinning Junmyeon.

“Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, this is Zitao. Zitao, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun,” Junmyeon introduced them to each other.

“’Sup?” Baekhyun lifted two fingers as a salute.

“Hello Zitao!” Kyungsoo greeted and stuck out his hand.

“Just call me Tao,” came the tall male’s curt reply. He did not even bother to accept Kyungsoo’s offered hand. Kyungsoo frowned at the blatant rudeness and was about to berate the other man when he was cut off by Junmyeon’s hearty laugh.

“Zitao here is a shy boy. Don’t mind him! Come on guys! We got some shopping to do!”

* * *

Right now, Kyungsoo was busy memorizing his lines. Junmyeon and Baekhyun had worked on the song together back in high school so they already knew their own lines to heart. But Kyungsoo did not mind. He has a great memory anyway. As he was committing the lines to memory, Kyungsoo swung his gaze around idly before resting on Jongin who was helping out by pasting the glow-in-the-dark stars with Luhan and Sehun.

At that moment, Tao came in with different sets of high school uniform. Everyone else stopped what they were doing to admire the clothes they used to wear back in the day. While the rest were enthusiastically recounting their _amazing_ high school days, Kyungsoo quietly observed his uniform. High school was a living nightmare to him. It was rife with backstabbers and two-faced people who would do the most despicable things just to climb up the social ladder. Kyungsoo involuntarily shuddered as he recalled the dark days of his school years. A hand was placed on Kyungsoo’s shoulder.  Kyungsoo lifted his head to see Jongin smiling down at him.

“You’re fine now,” was all Jongin said and it was all what Kyungsoo needed to hear.

Kyungsoo placed his hand on top of Jongin’s, smiling back. 

* * *

“Zitao, thank you so much for your help. Hyung really appreciates it!” Junmyeon said as he led Tao outside.

“No problem, Junmyeon-hyung. If you want to chase your happiness, I’m willing to support you with every little help that I could give.”

Junmyeon reached up to cup Tao’s cheek. “You’re such a good kid, Zitao-ah. You’re truly a blessing to your family. H-How’s your family doing?”

Tao gave a wistful smile. “They’re doing fine, hyung. Like always.”

“That’s good,” Junmyeon felt glad. At that moment, Tao’s phone started buzzing in his pocket and he immediately answered the call. Registering the other’s scowl and the Chinese words that were curtly uttered, Junmyeon had an idea of who the other was currently speaking to.

“T-That’s Yixing, right?” Junmyeon timidly asked as soon as the call ended.

“Yeah. He ordered me to drive to his building in 10 minutes to take him to the cemetery,” Tao replied without preamble.

“Ah, it’s that day of the week, huh?” Junmyeon murmured. He remembered how Yixing would always shoot down his requests to accompany him to visit his mother’s grave.

Tao hummed in response before the scowl returned to his face. “I can’t stand him. He’s such a despicable bastard. After you left, he started becoming worse. He even fired the maids and slapped his new secretary on her first day. Really, I wish I could slap _him_ senseless.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Junmyeon said sadly. “But Zitao-ah, just know that Yixing is not as evil as you think he is. Something happened to him during high school and as far as I know, he refused to tell anyone about it, including me. But I have a feeling that it has something to do with this mother’s death. Before she passed away, Yixing was a kind and caring person, always there for his friends and peers.”

“Somehow, Zhang Yixing and kind don’t seem to belong in the same sentence,” Tao responded bitterly.

Junmyeon sighed. As much as he wanted to disagree, the younger male was right. His ex-fiancé’s kind days seemed to be a thing of the past. A distant memory. Despite spending a lot of time with Yixing back then, he still could not help but feel that he no longer knew this current Yixing. The pale male then wondered how Kris would feel about it since the older male was considered to be Yixing’s best friend.

After a moment, Tao spoke, “Anyway hyung, I’m afraid I have to go. If I’m late, I would be yelled at again.”

“Okay. Oh! Before I forget, Kyungsoo has something to give to you.”

“Hyung, t-this is…” Tao’s eyes widened when he saw his gift. It was a pair of Gucci sunglasses.

“Do you like it?”

“Like it? I absolutely love it! Thank you so much, Junmyeon-hyung!” Tao leaned down to hug Junmyeon.

“Actually, you should thank Kyungsoo. He wanted to give this to you for making him remember his sweet high school days,” Junymyeon explained.

“Ah that midget? I guess he’s not that bad then.”

“Be nice, Zitao.”

“But you still deserve the credit, hyung ‘cos you’re the one who suggested it to him. Say my thanks to him anyway. I’ll get going now,” Tao said as he opened his car door.

“Take care, Zitao-ah. And send my regards to Jongdae and Minseok-hyung too,” Junmyeon said.

“I will. They’re doing well if you want to know.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“And hyung? I’m glad to see you smiling more. It suits you. I really hope that this Kris guy can bring you all the happiness and love that you deserve. If he fails, I’m going to personally hunt him down and-”

“I get it, Zitao,” Junmyeon interrupted his threat. “Now go along.”  

After Tao drove off the house compound and disappeared down the road, Junmyeon turned around with a look of determination in his face.

_Now, time to make the most epic confession ever._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this may seem like a random chapter but it's going to make sense in a few chaps!


	21. Want You Back

At the dead of night, Yixing jolted awake at the shrill sound of his phone ringing. Having his sleep disrupted, the Chinese male yelled at the recipient once he accepted the call. Panting harshly from his outburst, it took a while before Yixing’s mind registered that the panicked and frightened voice at the other end was informing him that his father was in critical condition and that he had to come down to the hospital this instant.

Grumbling, the irritated male tossed the covers aside and sprang out of the bed. He just grabbed the first set of clothes when he opened his wardrobe and changed into them in a flash before rushing down to the hospital, but not without notifying Chen first.

Once he arrived in the hospital, he became even more irritated as he waited amid the chaos that was the cacophony of ambulance sirens, alarms going off and people’s wails and screams. Really, he had to fight the urge to strangle the little girl sitting beside him who was bawling non-stop. Before his patience had ran out, his name was finally called and he hauled to his feet in an instant.

His father’s condition had been stabilized and currently, the old man had his eyes closed as he slept peacefully. His breathing was so subtle that if the loud beeping from the EKG monitor was removed, a passer-by would have thought that he was dead. Yixing stared emotionlessly at his father’s still form through the glass as he tuned out the nurse’s words. It turned out that it was all a false alarm and the Chinese male figured that anything else that came out of the nurse’s mouth was hardly important.

There, his father lay pathetically on the hospital bed. A great man who used to rule his company and the household with an iron fist. Yixing vividly remembered about the time when his father would force him to stand on the table and read 10 Korean storybooks every day. If Yixing were to make a mistake, his father would strike his back with a metal ruler and he would have to start all over from the beginning. The six-year-old Yixing choked back his sobs as his father repeatedly yelled at him that ‘ _boys don’t cry_ ’. The poor boy could only hold back his tears as his mother watched at the pitiful sight helplessly from her room.

The distant memory made Yixing boil with anger, causing him to clench his fists tightly. He extremely loathed it when his mind drifted to the times when he had displayed such weak behaviour. Those dreadful memories made him remember how he used to be so pathetic, so worthless, so _weak._ His life really took the turn for the _best_ when his father suffered a major stroke months earlier. Till that event, he had been temporarily leading the company as his father was feeling unwell. When the doctor said that his father could be hospital-ridden for life, a smirk found its way to the corner of Yixing’s lips. By default, it meant that the sole heir would be taking over as the new CEO permanently. That also meant that Yixing would have the immense power to rule the company with his own iron fist, firing useless and disrespectful employees and making sure only the best who made no mistakes stayed. _Nothing_ can make him feel weak now.

“Mr. Zhang?” Yixing was brought back to reality and  he glanced at the nurse from the corner of his eye.

“Erm…I’m sorry for making you rush down here. I’m pretty new here and there’s little staff around this time so they had me watch over your father. I thought that your father was in danger so I quickly alerted you,” the nurse blushed when she lifted her eyes to meet the handsome male’s eyes. She tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “S-Since you’re here...would you like to have some supper w-with me?”

No sooner had she finished talking than Yixing exploded.

“THIS WHOLE THING HAS BEEN A WASTE OF TIME AND YOU STILL HAVE THE CHEEK TO ASK ME OUT?” The Chinese male yelled at the poor nurse who widened her eyes in shock and trembled with fear. “YOU’RE USELESS! YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING RIGHT!”

A hand appeared on Yixing’s shoulder, putting a stop to his outburst.

“Sir, that’s enough. We should leave now.”

Yixing shot the terrified nurse a harsh glare before obeying Chen. The both of them wordlessly left the hospital, the stunned onlookers giving them a wide berth in the narrow hallways in fear of incurring the Chinese male’s wrath if they were to block his path. 

* * *

Needless to say, Yixing’s day began rather unpleasantly. And on that same day, it also happened to be his weekly visit to his late mother’s grave. As was his usual routine, Yixing brought a bouquet of white roses and threw an angry gaze at the tombstone, cursing at his late mother.

“Why did you leave me, Mama? You said you loved me. You said you would always protect me. And then one day, you suddenly left me alone in this world. You’re such a liar, Mama. I hate you so much, Mama! I HATE YOU!”

Yixing’s loud cry echoed in the empty cemetery. The Chinese male held back tears as he kneeled down to place the white roses gently on the ground.

“Enjoy these flowers…”

Just like his earlier visits, he spewed the same string of harsh words but somehow, for that particular visit, his heart ached very badly. He felt incredibly empty all of a sudden and the emptiness in his heart had grown larger, as if it was trying to consume his entire being. Distraught by this realization, Yixing lifelessly walked forward and accidentally bumped onto a person.

“Oh sorry-”

“CAN’T YOU SEE WHERE YOU’RE GOING!? DON’T YOU HAVE EYES!?”

“I-I’m so sorry!”

“You’d better be,” Yixing snarled before hurrying out of the cemetery. The people who he bumped onto did not even wait until he was out of earshot as one of them hissed, “So grumpy!”

Yixing’s day was becoming worse and worse.

* * *

His day at work surprisingly went by quite fine. Mostly fine. His new assistant was such a people-pleaser who loved to sing exaggerated praises for the CEO. Despite that, the assistant fulfilled all his designated tasks perfectly so Yixing merely told his energetic assistant to keep quiet unless spoken to. The assistant’s endless barrage of praises for Yixing did nothing but worsen his headache.

Once the Chinese male arrived back home, he collapsed on his white leather couch, exhausted from the day’s events. Yixing groaned as his back and shoulder muscles felt extremely sore and he struggled to sit up comfortably. Instinctively, he closed his eyes shut, expecting some contact on his shoulders and frowned when nothing happened after he waited for a while.

“Junmyeon! Myeon-ah! Myeon?”

Yixing’s frown deepened. Where was Junmyeon anyway? Yixing saw some movement from the corner of his eye and spotted one of his maids. Well, she would do for now.

“Zai.” Said maid froze at the mention of her name. The terrified maid slowly turned around. She was just walking around aimlessly in the house and when she discovered that the young master was already at home, she tried to escape to the kitchen but unfortunately, she was noticed.

“Y-Yes, Young Master?”

“Massage my shoulders,” Yixing ordered.

Not wanting to get fired, the maid hurriedly complied and gingerly placed her hands on his shoulders, slowly getting into the rhythm of a massage.

Yixing groaned in displeasure. “Go lower.”

The maid obeyed but the Chinese male was still far from satisfied. “Put some strength into it.”

However, she exerted too much pressure, causing Yixing to bark out a pained cry. He whipped his head around to glare at the unsuspecting maid.

“Are you trying to kill me!? You can’t even do a simple massage! You’re fucking useless!”

Anger coursing through his veins, Yixing stood up to tower over his maid, who was paralysed with fear.

“You’re not Junmyeon! Junmyeon knows me very well! He can give me an amazing massage without me telling him to. Where’s Junmyeon? Give me Junmyeon!!” Yixing yelled at the top of his lungs before raising his hand.

“Sir, calm down!” Chen intervened and held back his young master. The servant arrived just in time with Tao who quickly tended to the petrified maid.

“Tao, bring Zai back home.” Tao nodded at his senior’s order and quickly brought the maid out of the living room, whispering some comforting words as he did so. When Chen sensed that Yixing had calmed down, he released him. Chen regarded his master carefully as the other placed his hands on his hips.

“I need a drink,” was all Yixing said.

“Yes sir, I’ll bring you your favourite.” As he watched his servant head into the kitchen, Yixing planted himself back on the leather couch, still feeling the uncomfortable knots in his body. Before he knew it, Chen was by his side with a wine glass and a bottle of champagne, pouring out the beverage as soon as he arrived.

When offered, Yixing quickly drank the purple-coloured beverage completely in one sip. He frowned at the familiar taste of the drink.

“What’s this?”

“It’s your favourite champagne, sir. I saw it in the fridge and I thought you’d like it.”

“Yes, I like it. Who…Junmyeon bought this for me, didn’t he?” Yixing scowled at his empty wine glass.

“Yes he did.”

Yixing landed his back on the couch as he pinched the bridge of his nose, a tinge of guilt filling him all of a sudden.

“Chen…have I been ignoring Myeon lately? Have I been acting very mean towards my fiancé?”

The servant responded with silence, unsure of where this conversation was heading.

“You can just tell me the truth, Chen. I won’t fire you if you do. I just need your honesty.”

“Yes, sir, you’ve been very harsh to Junmyeon,” Chen hesitated for a while before continuing, “Ever since I was first hired to work for you, I had noticed it.”

“So, I guess it’s my fault. My poor sweet angel…he deserves all the love in this world. Chen, go get him. He must be sulking in the guest room ‘cos I’ve been ignoring him for too long. He always does that,” Yixing gave a fond smile.

When his servant made no movement, Yixing swung his gaze at to give his servant a glare. “Chen? Did you listen to what I said?”

“I heard you clearly, sir.”

“Then what’re you doing, standing there like an idiot?” Yixing hissed.

“Sir. Junmyeon does not live in this house anymore,” Chen answered calmly.

“What?” Yixing quickly stood up and winced when he felt a sharp pain coursing through his back. “Why? Where did he run off to? Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

“Sir…don’t you remember? You sold him off,” Chen replied, puzzlement on his face.

“Huh? What’re you talking about? There’s no way I would ever do that! I love my Myeon-ah so much!” Yixing yelled.

“Sir, you did-” Chen reached out in order to try to calm his master down.

Yixing slapped the hand away, his abrupt action accidentally causing the bottle of champagne that was perched on the couch to spill over the white leather couch. Gasping, Yixing tried to salvage it by furiously wiping the stain with tissue papers. A painful headache struck him at once and it all dawned on him that this was the exact same spot on the couch that Junmyeon spilled the same champagne over. It was then Yixing realized that the couch he was resting on was a brand new one that he had ordered Tao to buy. He recalled everything now, all the memories and details crystal clear in his mind.

He remembered how pissed off he was with Junmyeon at that time and recalled the threats that he aimed at his then-fiancé. He remembered sitting in the couch in his office as his mind ran over the ways he could get rid of Junmyeon but at the same time, recouping the money he spent for their wedding. He remembered coming to the decision to sell Junmyeon off because he knew that since his former fiancé was a virgin, he would fetch an even higher price, coupled with the fact that he looked so delicate and frail.

A wave of regret and guilt hit the Chinese male. How could he do that to his future husband? He recalled Junmyeon trying to cheer him up with his favourite champage to the point of sneaking out to earn some money in order to save up. But Yixing acted so ungrateful and he even betrayed his own lover in the worst possible way. Also, Junmyeon had always been very detail-oriented and careful since the first time they met so Junmyeon acting so clumsy all over a sudden was obviously a tactic to attract his attention. _Why was he just figuring this out now?_

Yixing smacked his forehead multiple times and groaned.

“Chen…I’m so horrible…I treated my Myeon like crap…” Yixing sobbed.

A tear ran down his cheek and he furiously rubbed it away. There was no way he was going to show his weakness in front of others.

“Tell me, Chen. You said I sold him. Who is Junmyeon staying with now?” When his servant remained silent, Yixing tried again. “Chen?”

“He’s staying with Kris Wu.”

“Kris Wu?” Yixing frowned. “Do I know him?”

“He’s the multi-millionaire CEO and founder of the popular technology company called ACE. And…he’s also your former best friend…Kevin Li. Kris changed his name, sir.”

At that, Yixing’s expression darkened considerably. He admitted that Kevin was his first real friend but he felt so incredibly betrayed by the other when he tried to steal Junmyeon away from him back then. And now, he’s doing it for the second time? There’s no way he’s going to let him do it ever again. Not on his watch.

“Chen. I want you to find my Junmyeon’s whereabouts.”

Without a word, his servant nodded and got started on his task immediately.

_Junmyeon-ah...wait for me…I’m going to take you back from that asshole. And I’m never going to let you off my sight ever again…_


	22. Trouble in Paradise

Ever since he and Junmyeon are officially dating, Kris felt like he’s in paradise every day. Each day, Kris looks forward to coming home to see his petite boyfriend opening the door and giving him a kiss on the lips. All the exhaustion and stress from his work quickly disappeared when Kris witnessed Junmyeon’s radiant smile and the way his boyfriend’s eyes curved into cute little crescents. They showered each other with so much love and affection that left Kyungsoo groaning and Jongin laughing at Kyungsoo’s epic reaction.

Love is such a powerful thing, Kris learnt. The most powerful thing in the world. Kris hopes that he would be together with Junmyeon for eternity and that nothing would come in between them.

* * *

It was a long and productive day at work. Kris, Chanyeol and their team spent their whole day meeting really important business clients and signing non-disclosure agreements with each other, securing contracts for celebrity endorsements and partnerships to heavily promote the new Ace G5.

After bidding goodbyes to their employees, Kris and Chanyeol proceeded to leave. When they reached the ground floor, Kris lit up in excitement when he saw Junmyeon sitting on the couch near the lobby. When his lover noticed his presence and greeted him with a smile and a wave, Kris returned the greeting enthusiastically, beaming widely till his pink gums were showing.

“Let’s go to Black Pearl,” Chanyeol suggested but unfortunately for him, Kris completely ignored him and instead bounded over to where Junmyeon was, spreading his arms widely as he did so. In response, the smaller male ran towards him, throwing his arms around his lover and the couple shared a heart-melting hug as if they had not seen each other for years.

“Myeon Myeon, I miss you so much,” Kris whispered, lowering the smaller male to the floor.

“My Fan Fan, I miss you too,” Junmyeon cooed as he reached up and caressed the other’s cheek. Kris leaned to the soft touch, beaming at the smaller male. They gazed at each other lovingly before Kris broke it off to connect his large hands with Junmyeon’s smaller ones. Despite the obvious size difference, their hands still fit perfectly with each other.

“Let’s go,” Kris uttered before briefly glancing behind his shoulder. “See you tomorrow, Yeolie!”

* * *

While watching the affectionate couple exchange romantic gestures in front of him, Chanyeol could feel a part of him dying inside. His trademark bright smile faltered, and his fists and jaw involuntarily clenched. An unpleasant feeling brewed inside the pit of his stomach.

“Y-yeah…see you tomorrow, Kris,” Chanyeol finally muttered but Kris had already left a long time ago. With his _lover_. And here, Chanyeol still stood on the same spot like a fool as if Kris would turn around and come back to him, sheepishly apologizing before grabbing his hand to bring them to the usual bar they went to after work.

Kris would then apologize again to Chanyeol for almost forgetting their usual get-together after work and then give him a treat. And they would both drink till they were hopelessly drunk while laughing with each other as they chatted just about anything under the sun.

_“Yeolie…thanks for always being by my side,” Kris once told him. “I’m glad I met you.”_

_“I’m glad I met you…”_

_“I’m glad I met you…”_

Those words constantly repeated in Chanyeol’s mind and when he focused his attention back to reality, he did not see Kris waiting for him. His heart ached as he recalled how Kris did not even bother to bid him a proper goodbye. As if he was not worth it.

Chanyeol gritted his teeth as he clenched his fists tighter.

_I should’ve confessed to him while I still had the chance…_

* * *

“Wow…you packed all of these?” Kris said in amazement when he opened the picnic basket to see an assortment of sandwiches, salad, fruits and chocolate brownies, all packed neatly in containers and saran wrap.

“Uh yeah…I guess I got a little too carried away with that…heheh…” Junmyeon admitted shyly while rubbing the back of his neck.

Thankfully, the weather was absolutely perfect and the couple was able to find a perfect spot in the park with a tree that provides a good shade from the scorching sun to hold their private picnic.

“There’s no need to be shy, Myeon. This is perfect!” Kris smiled brightly before reaching out to grab a sandwich and offer it to his boyfriend. “Here…say aah!”

Giggling cutely, Junmyeon opened his mouth to take a small bite of the sandwich. As he chewed his food quietly, he smiled at his lover, his eyes forming small crescents as he did so while Kris returned with a dazzling smile of his own.

“You have some mustard on your upper lip, Romeo,” Kris pointed out, smiling tenderly. Before Junmyeon could react, his lover reached out and licked the mustard from his lip. Startled by the sudden action, Junmyeon involuntarily pushed Kris away, putting too much strength as he did so that the smaller male ended up losing balance and falling backwards. Fortunately, there was still quite a large expanse of the picnic mat behind him so his body landed on the mat with a soft thud.

“Oh my god! Myeon, are you okay?” Kris asked worriedly. He crawled towards the fallen male and hovered above him.

“Y-Yeah…I’m fine,” Junmyeon lifted his gaze and felt his face flush when he locked his gaze with his lover’s. He had only realized that Kris had caged his small frame with his arms and that Kris’ face was a few inches away from his. They merely stared at each other, taking the time to study each other’s features. Kris was the first to break the comfortable silence.

“You’re really gorgeous, Myeon,” Kris murmured, letting the back of his hand softly trail along the smaller male’s jawline.

“W-Why are you suddenly saying this?” Junmyeon could feel his face getting hotter and tried to look away but Kris gently gripped his chin to stop him.

“Would you look at me, Junmyeon?” Kris demanded softly. Even though he wanted to just completely disappear right then and there, Junmyeon steeled himself and lifted his gaze to meet his lover’s once more, his face furiously blushing.

“D-Do you really mean that?” Junmyeon asked timidly. “About me being gorgeous?”

Kris smiled down at the smaller male before pressing a small kiss on the other’s forehead. “Of course. I really like you a lot, Kim Junmyeon.”

“Well, I like you too, Kris Wu Yifan.”

Sighing happily, Kris moved his hand to caress the pretty male’s soft black locks. “Kim Junmyeon, there’s so many things that I like about you. The way you smile, the way you laugh, the way you treat animals so tenderly, how you don’t judge people by their appearances and rumours that you hear, how you are so pure-hearted like an angel…I don’t know what I did to deserve you…I must be the luckiest man alive-”

“Stop!” Junmyeon suddenly exclaimed which startled Kris.

“Why? Is there something wrong with what I said?” Kris asked, worry and concern laced in his voice.

“Yes! Everything! Stop calling yourself ‘lucky’ and stop describing me as if I’m some angel that dropped from heaven. You give me too much credit! If anyone should be called ‘lucky’, it’s me! And if there’s anyone should be an angel, it’s you, Kris! Not me!”

Kris could not help but let out a soft chuckle at seeing his boyfriend rant. Thinking that he was not taken seriously, Junmyeon frowned and pouted before hitting the other male’s chest.

“Yah! What’re you laughing at?”

“Nothing. It’s just…you’re just so adorable, Myeonie.” Junmyeon’s eyes widened at the sheer genuineness of his boyfriend’s compliment. No hint of mockery or annoyance whatsoever.    

Feeling his cheeks reddening, Junmyeon averted his gaze. “But it’s true. Back then, you helped me rescue Michael and even protected me and Michael from the bullies. You even got yourself injured for me and instead of being grateful, I ignored you ‘cos I thought you looked scary when your head was bleeding non-stop. After that day, I found myself having even stronger feelings for you because I found you so cool for helping me rescue Michael but I kept denying it and somehow I deluded myself into thinking that I was in love with Yixing. I-I was such a terrible person! I-It’s no wonder that I got treated so badly by Yixing later on. I deserved that! I was such a-hmph!”

While he was sputtering out his words, Kris’ gaze softened and he gently gripped his boyfriend’s chin to make him face him before quickly kissing him to shut him up.

“Don’t say that. No one deserves to be abused by their significant others. The thing is…I’m glad that I was the one who you actually fell in love with back then. ‘Cos I fell in love with you too from the moment we first met in the library. Though I was in denial like you were at first but Yixing convinced me otherwise.”

“You were in love with me since back then?”

“ _Are_ , Myeon,” Kris corrected him. “I’m still in love with you.”

“B-But that’s such a long time! Kris you...” Junmyeon managed to choke out before sobbing quietly.

Stunned, Kris froze momentarily before hurriedly wiping all the tears flowing down his lover’s cheeks. “W-Why are you crying? Don’t cry!”

“It’s just…I feel so lucky…and I’m glad that you had not given up on me even after all these years,” Junmyeon laughed lightly before connecting his gaze with his boyfriend’s and grabbing his large hands with his smaller ones. “Thank you for believing in our love.”

Smiling, Kris squeezed their hands together before leaning down to kiss his lover. Their kiss was short but sweet and filled with so much love. Kris pulled back and the couple beamed at each other, their warm, loving gazes making each other’s hearts flutter. When Kris leaned down again for another kiss, a shout disrupted their moment.

“Get your hands off of him!”

Everything right after happened in a blur. Kris felt his body being yanked upward, by a hand on his collar but before he could turn to face the intruder, he felt a punch to his jaw. The impact was not that hard but since he was caught off guard, Kris found himself landing backwards to the mat.

“Kris!” Junmyeon cried.

Before Junmyeon could run over to Kris’ side to examine his injury, he felt his wrist being harshly grabbed.

“Wha-” Junmyeon blurted, trying to shake himself free from the tight grip. He raised his gaze and openly gasped when he saw Kris’ assailant.

“Yixing?”

“Yes it’s me, Myeon. Come on, let’s head home,” Yixing said as he started to drag Junmyeon away.

“No! Let me go!” Junmyeon resisted.

“Stop being so stubborn!” Yixing snarled before he was shoved, his grip on Junmyeon’s hand loosening.

“Leave us alone and get out of here!” Yixing looked up to see Kris glaring at him while shielding Junmyeon behind him.

Yixing snorted before straightening his posture and jutting his chin out. “I’m not leaving till I’ve taken back what’s mine.”

At that arrogant response, Kris scoffed. “Junmyeon is not an object. He doesn’t belong to anyone.”

Yixing puffed out a scornful laugh. “You’re being hypocritical, _Kris_. If I recall correctly, _you’re_ the one who bought Junmyeon like he’s a fucking object. You _monster_.”

Kris couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “If I’m a monster, then _you’re_ the bigger monster for selling Junmyeon in the first place. You didn’t even spare Junmyeon’s feelings. I don’t even want to know what you were thinking when you did that. ‘Cos I’m going to treat Junmyeon properly and shower him with all the love that he deserves. Which is unlimited.”

Junmyeon glanced up at Kris, feeling touched by his words.

“So, you’d better leave before I make you,” Kris warned, frown deepening.  

Yixing scoffed. “Making violent threats now, _Kris_? You’re as much as a gangster now as you were back then. You’ve not changed at all. Even if you changed your name a thousand times, you’re still the pathetic boy whose parents could care less about. The lonely and friendless boy who receives no love from his parents. A person like you doesn't deserve to be with anyone-”

“YIXING STOP IT!”

Yixing and Kris both swung their gaze at Junmyeon, shocked by the latter’s sudden outburst.

Junmyeon grabbed Kris’ hand and squeezed it comfortingly before bravely stepping in front of Kris and glaring at Yixing. “Zhang Yixing, the person who's pathetic here is you! You treated me like shit, beating me and trampling on my emotions like I don't mean a thing to you. I hate that you sold me but now that I think about it, I'm glad you did. ‘Cos if you hadn't, I wouldn't have reunited with Kris and I wouldn't see you for the cruel, despicable man that you are! After you sold me, I suffered from depression. I even tried to commit suicide. But in my bleakest times, Kris never gave up on me and I'm thankful for him for that. And I guess I have to thank you as well. ‘Cos if you hadn’t done what you did, I wouldn't have another chance at love.”

Junmyeon’s eyes were glistened with tears which were threatening to fall. At that, Kris deepened the pressure of his boyfriend’s hand, rubbing his thumb in small comforting circles over his palm. Meanwhile, Yixing stood there, stunned.

“Myeon...you tried to kill yourself? ‘Cos of what I did? I'm...I'm s-” Yixing caught himself. A prideful man like him would never apologize and the word ‘sorry’ is such a foreign word to him. He hardly used that word before in his life because his father had warned him numerous times that ‘an apology is a sign of weakness’. “Well, I'm glad you’re okay now. Come on, we have to go home.”

Yixing offered his hand and Junmyeon glared at him through his tear-laden eyes.

“I don't think you’ve been listening to what I said. I see you for the cruel and despicable man that you are. So, Zhang Yixing, I will NEVER go back with you. My happiness is with Kris and Kris is the person who I'll be with to the end of time,” Junmyeon said assertively.

Yixing's eyes widened in shock. His mind was so confused. He had thought that by coming here, Junmyeon would head home with him, no questions asked. In his car ride to here, he had pictured Junmyeon profusely apologizing and willingly leaving the monster that is Kris Wu. Why had things turned out differently? Yixing felt utterly devastated at the actual outcome.

“Yixing, even though I don't like that you hit Kris, I'm willing to let that slide. Just do us a favour and leave us alone,” Junmyeon coldly said.

Snapping back to reality, Yixing studied Junmyeon. The once cowering and meek male who used to work so hard to gain his attention has become assertive and firm and at the side of another man. An indescribable rage burned inside Yixing.

“Fine.” Was all Yixing said. His stare on Junmyeon lingered for a while before he shifted his gaze to Kris, switching to a cold glare. The couple thought that Yixing was going to resort to violence again but to their surprise, he marched right out of the park, obeying Junmyeon’s words.

When Yixing was officially out of their sight, Kris heaved out a sigh of relief. “I thought he'd never leave.”

As soon as those words were out, Kris winced at the pain on his jaw.

“Kris! Does it hurt?” Junmyeon worriedly asked as he gingerly touched the slowly forming bruise.

“Just a little.”

“Wait here. I think I packed some ice.”

Before Junmyeon could walk towards their picnic basket, he felt himself being pulled back.

“K-Kris! What’re you doing?” Junmyeon felt himself being pulled into a hug, his head buried in his lover’s chest. Junmyeon could only freeze since his arms were trapped awkwardly as Kris embraced him tightly as if he was scared that Junmyeon would fly away and disappear. Junmyeon felt Kris planting his chin on the smaller male’s head.

“It's okay, Myeonie. This pain is nothing that I can’t handle. You want to know why?”

“Why?” Junmyeon tried to ask but his voice was muffled by Kris’ jacket.

Kris smiled and pulled away, staring deep into Junmyeon’s beautiful brown eyes. “Because you're by my side right now.”

Even though those words were extremely cheesy, Junmyeon could feel his face burning up. To have such romantic words spoken so seriously directed at him, Junmyeon could only take so much. Junmyeon would always scoff or laugh at the extremely cheesy lines spoken in romantic dramas but to have those cheesy lines directed at him and spoken so seriously at that, Junmyeon could feel his heart flutter wildly and his face burning up.

“I-I'm glad.” Junmyeon managed to squeak after a while.

“When you said those words at Yixing, I felt really happy.”

“Which words?” Junmyeon blinked innocently.

Kris smiled. “The part when you said your happiness will lie with me till the end of time. I'm not going to lie…my heart was doing somersaults when you said that.”

“Well...I was only able to say those words ‘cos you’re with me,” Junmyeon admitted, ignoring the rigorous beating of his own heart.

“Then I hope we’ll be together forever,” Kris whispered as he hugged his boyfriend once more.

“I hope so too,” Junnmyeon blushed.

When they pulled away, Junmyeon turned to his side and his eyes widened at the horrible mess on their picnic mat. Sandwiches and serviettes were trampled on, and the mat had a lot of creases and some mud prints from shoes.

“Ah! Our picnic is ruined!” Junmyeon groaned.

Chuckling, Kris grabbed his boyfriend's hand. “Don't worry your pretty little head about it. We can always continue the picnic at home. Besides, the food is already quite a lot so it would be less wasteful if we share them with Soo and Jongin.”

Junmyeon hummed thoughtfully. “That's a good idea.”

The smaller male turned to face Kris and smiled cheekily. “Since when did you get so smart?”

“To tell you the truth, I think my intelligence level went up after being with you.”

“Aha! So that's why!”

The couple laughed merrily with each other. 

* * *

Yixing was not the type to drink. Not that he has a low alcohol tolerance, he just hated the taste of alcohol. Furthermore, alcohol really disrupts his concentration and he’s always unable to think straight as a result.

But that day was an exception. He was feeling down because he did not expect Junmyeon to reject him so cruelly. Yixing concluded that Junmyeon wasn’t being himself, believing that Kris Wu had something to do with it. He was certain that Kris must have brainwashed Junmyeon somehow and made his former fiancé into a stranger to Yixing.

Yixing had always preferred everything to be in his favour, to be unfolding the way he had expected it to be. And he definitely did not expect his Junmyeon to flatly reject him. At first, Yixing thought his former fiancé did that as some sort of a twisted revenge but no, Yixing could tell from Junmyeon’s eyes that he was dead serious. Yixing recalled how a wave of embarrassment filled him earlier when Junmyeon rejected him. The humiliation. That foreign feeling could still be felt even when Yixing closed his eyes, as if the humiliation was seared into his memory.

Yixing gripped his beer glass tightly. Somehow, the taste of alcohol in his tongue had become bitterer. But he somehow can’t put an end to this drinking as he ordered another bottle. As he took a sip from his drink, a person beside him started blabbering.

“My life sucks so much...why didn’t I confess to him when I still had the chance? I totally blew it...hey you...can you turn back the time? Please turn back the time to five years ago! Please…” the man grabbed Yixing’s shoulder, shaking it harshly.

Witnessing the scene, the bartender behind the counter laughed.

“Chanyeol gets a tad emotional when he gets drunk. Don’t mind him,” the bartender supplied before walking away to tend to another customer.

Yixing shifted a glare at the bartender. How could he ignore a drunk man who was slurring out his problems that Yixing did not give a damn about?

Yixing wanted to leave but at the same time, he needed to finish the bottle on the spot as he did not like storing beer bottles in his house. Guess he had no choice but to quickly finish the bottle while ignoring this drunkard.

“Say...are you drowning your sorrows too?”

“Mind your own business,” Yixing glared at him.

The man, Chanyeol pouted and Yixing almost hit him because he looked like a giant baby.

“You must be really upset. Me too...Well, I have been in love with my best friend for years…” Chanyeol continued.

“I don’t care.”

“Just listen, will you?” Chanyeol frowned, as convincingly as he could in his drunk state. “My best friend...oh he’s so handsome and so charismatic. A lot of people in our university had a crush on him but they were all too scared to approach him…haha cowards. So I had him all for myself. I mean we had some other friends too but I was his closest friend. He even told me himself! I didn’t want to confess in fear that he would reject me so I kept postponing my confession. Then one day, he started acting strange. He acted so love-struck, even skipping a step when he was walking. I thought he was just in a good mood. But then I found out that he’s in love with another guy and they both have started dating recently. I don’t hate that guy though. He actually looks pretty cute. Like a little bunny. Maybe that’s why he likes him more than me. He must have seen me as some giant baby or something!”

Yixing snorted to himself because that was what he was thinking earlier as well. Somehow, Yixing had been engaged in the stranger’s words and found himself asking, “Who’s this guy who caused you so much heartbreak?”

“Wellllll, he’s a very handsome man. You may have heard of his name before though. He and I founded this technology company but he takes most of the credit ‘cos he was the one who started the idea…”

“What’s his name?” Yixing frowned as the stranger was not directly answering his question.

“Kris Wu.”

Yixing’s eyes widened and he found himself scoffing.

“Kris Wu, huh?”

 _‘Kris again…this guy has a knack for making people’s lives miserable…’_ Yixing thought bitterly.

“You know him?”

“Unfortunately yeah. He and I were best friends back in high school.” Yixing almost barfed at how he mentioned their friendship back then.

Chanyeol’s eyes widened as much as his drunken state allowed him to. “Woah really? You two must have done everything together, am I right?”

“Yeah...we even fell in love with the same person…”

“What! Kris has never told me that! Who was it? Details, details!” Chanyeol shook him excitedly.

“You probably know him. He’s that little bunny you described. Kim Junmyeon,” Yixing replied bitterly and turned away as soon as he saw the scandalous look on the other’s face.

“I-I can’t believe it...who knew that the two of us got our hearts broken from the same people who ended up with each other...and to think that the both of us met in the same bar at the same time, drinking our sorrows...huh life works in mysterious ways…”

Yixing kept silent. He already regretted disclosing such personal matters and to a complete stranger at that.

“Tell me something...did you ever tell Junmyeon your feelings?” Chanyeol leaned forward, dropping his voice.

“Yeah I did. Well sorta.”

“And then what happened?”

“We dated and we even got engaged years later but I broke off our engagement.” Yixing hesitated before continuing. “And I want him back.”

“And…?”

“I tried to get him back but he refused. He wanted to be with that stupid giant.”

“Don’t call him that!”

Silence enveloped the pair.

Chanyeol broke the silence. “Did you and Junmyeon ever...you know…did it?”

“What are you saying?” Yixing frowned when Chanyeol did some lewd gesture with his fingers.

“You know… _sex_ ” Chanyeol whispered the last word.

“No...Junmyeon doesn’t believe in pre-marital sex and I respect him for that. I was willing to wait.”

Chanyeol blew a raspberry. “Then no wonder he doesn’t want to go back with you! You guys weren’t even close to begin with!”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you know? Relationships only grow stronger when a couple consummate! Your Junmyeon is just not emotionally attached to you!”

“Really…”

“That’s right! I had sex with a lot of people and they couldn’t stop becoming so clingy with me afterwards!”

“I see…”

Yixing turned back to his glass, an idea brewing in his mind.

 


	23. Warning

The next morning, Yixing managed to wake up on time, albeit in a slightly tipsy state from a night of heavy drinking. Fortunately, his mind was working well and his business meetings on that day ended quite well.

Things were working out the way the Chinese male had expected them to be and it really relaxed him considerably. However, life seemed to be not working in his favour when he encountered an unexpected setback.

“Tao, I have a job for you to do.”

“What is it, sir?”

“I want you to keep a tab on Junmyeon’s whereabouts.”

“W-What?”

Yixing sighed. Tao usually carried out his orders without question and him acting all confused was really uncharacteristic of him.

“Keep an eye on Junmyeon’s every movement. Tail him. Use GPS. Whatever! I want to know his every movement.”

“What are you planning to do that info, sir?” Tao asked carefully.

Yixing’s eye twitched. “Tao, you’re asking too many questions today. Since you work for me, you can never question whatever I ask of you. You just do it!”

“No.” Yixing stiffened.

“What?” The tall servant kept silent, his gaze firm. “What did you say?”

“I said, _no_. I’m not going to do it,” Tao repeated, this time shooting a glare at his own boss.

“Well, too bad. You don’t have a choice!” Yixing hissed, all while trying to keep calm.

“You’re going to do something bad to Junmyeon-hyung. I’m sure of it. And I’m _not_ going to let you do that,” Tao jutted his chin out, taking advantage of his height to tower over his boss.

Yixing puffed out a laugh. “Are you challenging me? You did not question me at all when I told you to bring Junmyeon to his buyer’s house. And now you’re acting like you’re his saviour or something.”

“You’re mistaken. I was actually really happy when you let Junmyeon-hyung go. I didn’t like your method but as long as he escapes from you, I will help him. That’s why I helped Chen-hyung make sure that his buyer was someone trustworthy. I did a background check and everything to make sure Junmyeon-hyung would go with someone kind and nice. Not someone evil like you!”

“Tao. You’re really testing my patience. You must do whatever I say whether you like it or not. Did you forget about your piss-poor family back in China? Would you rather go back to working four odd jobs because of your lack of educational qualifications? Besides, I’m a powerful man. I can kick you out this instant and make sure nobody employs you ever! I can make your life a living hell!”

Tao paused a bit and Yixing smirked, certain that he had backed the younger male into a corner.

“I DON’T CARE! Go ahead and fire me! Go ahead and make my life a living hell! Junmyeon-hyung’s happiness matters even more to me!” Tao screamed.

“Why you little…”

Yixing aimed a punch but Tao skilfully dodged it and grabbed his boss’ other hand to pull it roughly behind him. Hearing Yixing cry in pain satisfied Tao but in a second of letting his guard down, he felt a stinging pain piercing him suddenly. Tao looked down to see a needle piercing into his skin through his suit sleeve. Eyes widening, Tao felt a wave of panic slowly coursing over him but it was too late when the drugs entering his system had quickly taken action. Tao loosened the grip on his boss as he felt his strength leaving him gradually before he passed out on the floor.

Yixing panted. “Fine then. If you won’t do it, then I’ll have someone else do it for me.”

The Chinese male scrolled through his contact list to call Chen but his eyes caught a newly added contact in his phone which caused him to pause and stare at the name for a few moments. His lips then curled into a sinister smile.

_‘You’re perfect for my plan.’_

* * *

“So, what do you think of the food?” Kyungsoo held his breath as he faced the table of people before him.

“Hyung this tastes amazing!” Jongin grinned. “As expected from my boyfriend!”

“That’s great, Jongin,” Kyungsoo smiled before glancing at the other three.

“It’s really good,” Junmyeon agreed, with Kris nodding beside him. Kyungsoo was sure that Kris would go with whatever Junmyeon said but hey, a nod is still a compliment.

“I just have a question,” Baekhyun began. “Why are we all served seafood again?”

Kyungsoo sighed. “I told you already. My restaurant wants to spice up our menu a little. And we’re proposing of a seafood-related menu every Wednesday and Friday. So what do you think, Baekhyun?”

“It’s good I guess. I didn’t know crab can be served as a cocktail,” Baekhyun commented as he brought a spoonful of the cuisine into his mouth. “What’s it called again? Crab cocktail?”

“Shrimp ceviche cocktail,” Kyungsoo corrected him. He breathed out a sigh of relief before sitting down. “Thanks guys for trying out our new menu. The truth is I’m really scared that this won’t work out.”

“Don’t worry about that Kyungsoo! You’re an amazing chef. We all have faith in you,” Junmyeon assured him, with Kris nodding beside him as usual.

“Yeah you’re doing just fine,” Jongin added before leaning forward and pecking on Kyungsoo’s forehead.

Seeing that public display of affection, Kris suddenly had an idea.

“Here Myeon. Have some of my cocktail. Say aah~” Kris directed a spoonful of cocktail into his boyfriend’s mouth. Junmyeon gladly accepted it.

“Mmm delicious…Here, have some of mine as well,” Kris opened his mouth thinking that he would be fed a spoonful too but to his surprise, Junmyeon leaned forward and kissed him before pushing the food inside his mouth into Kris’. The other three watched in silence as the couple continued to have a battle with each other with their tongues and Baekhyun snapped when Kris involuntarily let out a loud moan.

“We’re in public!” 

* * *

After helping out Kyungsoo tasting his new menu, they all went for some shopping. They were all surveying shops together when they chanced upon an enormous bookstore. Seeing Junmyeon’s eyes twinkle with excitement, Kris told the other three that they would meet somewhere else since Jongin wanted to buy a new pair of shoes while Baekhyun wanted to stock up on his eyeliner.

Junmyeon grabbed his boyfriend’s hand and dragged him inside the bookstore, the bunny headband perched on top of his head bouncing as he ran. Kris’ own wolf headband almost slipped out of his head and the giant had to hold on to it while keeping up with his lover’s pace. They had went inside an accessories shop just now and Junmyeon thought it’d be cute if they wore some couple items. And Kris did not mind it one bit.

The couple spent a good two hours in the bookstore with Junmyeon ambitiously browsing through the entire bookshelf of newly released titles while Kris busied himself by reading some comic books. As they exited the store after Junmyeon had paid for his books, the couple then decided to buy some ice cream in the shop opposite the bookstore. They were waiting in the queue when Junmyeon audibly gasped.

“Myeon, what’s wrong?” Kris asked.

“I forgot about this new book that came out last month!”

“But, you already bought a lot already,” Kris pointed out, shaking the bag in his hands for emphasis.

“No, this book is really important! And I have to read it!” Junmyeon insisted.

Chuckling, Kris patted his boyfriend’s head. “Go buy it then. Do you need me to come with you?”

Junmyeon shook his head.

“Alright. I’ll stay here to get the ice cream.”

Beaming, Junmyeon stood on his tiptoes to peck the taller male’s lips. “Be right back!’

Kris nodded and watched fondly as his tiny boyfriend rushed back to the bookstore, his bunny headband moving wildly. Kris could have sworn he saw a fluffy white tail at the shape of a cotton ball and blinked twice. Ah, it was just his imagination. The giant shook his head before shifting his attention back to the long queue.

* * *

Kris was waiting for the old man to place the scoops in the second cone when he heard a shout calling his name. Kris snapped his head around at the source of the voice.

“Oh…Chanyeol it’s you.”

Chanyeol pouted at the lack of enthusiasm. “Yah! What’s up with that response? Are you disappointed seeing me here?”

“Of course not. Since when are you so sensitive?” Kris accepted the two cones, missing the hurt look on his best friend’s face. “Do you want some ice cream?”

“Ah no thanks,” Chanyeol forced a smile. He flicked his gaze around Kris, as if searching for someone. “Where’s your little bunny?”

“At home. Our neighbour is taking care of it,” Kris answered as he licked his ice cream.

Chanyeol laughed. “I mean Junmyeon-hyung.”

“Oh! Well, Myeon went back to the bookstore to get some book he missed,” Kris glanced at his watch. “He should be back by now.”

“Maybe, he couldn’t find it and went to another bookstore to find it?” Chanyeol suggested.

“But Myeon would inform me if he did that,” Kris argued. He struggled to retrieve his phone from his pocket since his hands were occupied, holding the two ice cream cones and the heavy plastic bag filled with books.

“Yeolie, help me take out my phone. It’s in my front pocket.”

Perking up at his nickname, Chanyeol reached out to retrieve the phone, fighting the blush in his face as he did so.

“Help me call Myeon. And switch to speaker phone.” Chanyeol obeyed. As he searched for Junmyeon’s name, his expression fell when he saw the name ‘Myeonie’ with a heart and bunny emoji beside it. Shaking his thoughts away, he pressed the name and waited for the other to pick up.

The phone was ringing before it went straight to voicemail.

“Strange. He usually picks up at the second ring.” Kris frowned.

“Kris, your ice cream is melting,” Chanyeol pointed out.

Kris noticed and sighed before walking away.

“Where are you going?” Chanyeol asked, slightly shocked.

“I’m throwing them away.”

“But you haven’t finished them yet!”

“I’m not in the mood to eat them, Chanyeol,” Kris grumpily told him.

“Then give them to me! I’ll eat them all,” Chanyeol did not wait for Kris to respond and quickly reached out to grab the two cones and wolfed them down. He intentionally ate them messily but to his disappointment, Kris did not notice as the latter was holding his phone to his ear. Usually, Kris would be helpful and wipe off his mess. Chanyeol slowed down his eating as he glanced at Kris in disappointment.

After a while, Jongin, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun came.

“Oh hey Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo greeted the newcomer with a small wave. Chanyeol merely nodded in response.

“Have you guys seen Junmyeon?” The three of them shook their heads.

“Did you check the bookstore?” Baekhyun asked.

“Not yet. I was hoping he was with you,” Kris sighed.

Just as they were about to continue talking, there was loud set of footsteps coming towards them and the quintet was shocked as they came face to face with a tall man with heavy eye bags, looking very worn out and with tattered clothing.

The man panted heavily as he paused to catch his breath.

 “T-Tao?” Kyungsoo sputtered before appearing beside the exhausted male. “What happened to you?”

“Kyungsoo-hyung,” Tao breathed out. “Junmyeon-hyung is in danger!”


	24. Accomplice

“What did you say?” Kyungsoo frowned.

“Woah woah! What’s happening here? How come this guy knows Junmyeon?” Kris intervened.

“The short story is that Tao here works for Zhang Yixing as his personal servant,” Baekhyun offered.

“Used to,” Tao corrected and all eyes were fixed on him. “My boss…well former boss actually…he’s planning something bad for Junmyeon-hyung. He gave me an order to tail Junmyeon-hyung but I refused to do it. And then he knocked me out with some sedatives and when I came to, I found myself trapped inside this secluded warehouse. I managed to escape and tried to get here as soon as I can to warn you guys but I think I might be too late,” Tao rattled on, as if he was rapping.

Suddenly, Kris reached out and yanked Tao by his collar, “Where the hell is Junmyeon now? Tell me! Where is he?”

“W-What? That’s what _I_ want to know!” Tao choked out.

“Enough! Kris, we should go back to the bookstore now!” Kyungsoo said urgently.

Kris growled, pushing Tao away and rushed to the bookstore with the other five tailing behind him. Once there, Kris scoured the entire place, even barking at people to step aside and pushing past them. He ignored the workers’ complaints and his eyes widened when he saw a bunny headband on the floor. He bent down to pick it up as panic struck him.

“He’s gone…” Kris whispered.

“Kris! Kris! What happened? Did you find anything?” Kyungsoo crouched down beside him, with Tao at his side. Jongin, Baekhyun and Chanyeol were explaining to the workers and apologizing to them for their friend’s rudeness.

“Soo, Myeon is not here…he’s gone! I knew I should’ve gone with him! He’s missing now all because I stayed behind to buy that stupid ice cream!” Kris said in horror.

“Calm down, Kris!” Kyungsoo held the giant’s shoulders that were quaking.

“Easy for you to say! Your boyfriend is not the one who’s missing!” Kris yelled.

“Kris, stay calm! It would not do you or Junmyeon any good if you keep panicking like this!” Kyungsoo shouted back.

“Erm…excuse me? May I know what’s wrong?” A gentle female voice snapped the two friends from their heated argument. The girl addressing them was wearing the worker’s uniform but in a different colour and her name tag said ‘Wendy’ with the manager title beside it.

“Ah it’s just…our friend is missing. And we’re very worried,” Kyungsoo answered politely.

Wendy nodded in response and pointed to the bunny headband. “Is he the one who wore that cute animal headband?”

Eyes lightening up, Kris asked, “Did you see him?”

“Yes, I did. He asked me where this book title was. Seems that one of the workers forgot to re-stock it so I told him to wait while I get the copy from the storeroom. But when I came back, he was gone.”

Kris deflated immediately and Kyungsoo patted his friend’s back comfortingly. “I see. Well, thanks.”

“Junmyeon…where are you…”Kris mumbled as he raked his hair with his hand in frustration.

Wendy appeared to ponder about it before speaking again, “I could show you the security footage if you want.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Of course. I hope you guys can find your companion. Wait here. I’ll inform the IT guy about it.”

“Thank you! You’re so helpful!” Kris told her gratefully.

“Ah it’s no problem, really. Be right back,” Wendy said before leaving.

“Hopefully, the footage will tell us where Junmyeon went,” Kyungsoo said as he patted Kris’ shoulder. Jongin nodded vigorously beside him while Baekhyun heaved a sigh of relief.

“I hope Junmyeon-hyung is okay,” Tao said. Chanyeol stayed silent beside him.

Kris’ expression softened as he turned to Tao. “Hey, I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier. I panicked ‘cos I was worried about Myeon…”

Tao held up his hand to stop him, “It’s okay. I understand. Just know that I’m not your enemy. I’m genuinely worried about Junmyeon-hyung too. Hyung has done a lot of nice things to me. When hyung used to live with my former boss, hyung will treat me kindly and dote on me like I’m his son. I didn’t like how my former boss treated hyung unkindly and I was more than glad when hyung was finally freed from his clutches. We have a common enemy and that is Zhang Yixing.”

The group then lapsed into silence as they waited for Wendy. After what felt like an eternity, Wendy finally returned.

“Hey, you guys can view the tapes now.”

* * *

 “So I pulled the security footage from the time the bookstore opened today. It was actually quite interesting ‘cos the first person that entered the store was a middle-aged woman with amazing fashion sense and well-manicured nails. Who would’ve thought-” the tech assistant who introduced himself as Heechul began to blabber.

“Yeah yeah just show us the damn footage already,” Kris growled.

Heechul bristled at the rude behaviour and was about to retort back when Wendy sent a warning glare at his direction. Cursing under his breath, the pink-haired man proceeded to play the footage on his laptop.

The group studied the footage intently with Kris being the most focused. The footage finally showed the part when Wendy approached Junmyeon about the book. Since it was only a visual footage, the conversation between Junmyeon and Wendy could not be heard. Kris went nearer to the screen which now showed Junmyeon waiting for Wendy for a copy of the book he wanted.  It then showed Junmyeon trying to sneak inside the storeroom when suddenly another person appeared next to him, but the door of the storeroom concealed the stranger’s appearance, with only the stranger’s head being visible over the top of the door. After a while, they disappeared, out of the camera’s view.

“Where did he go?” Kris asked frantically before swerving his gaze at Heechul. “Hey you! Isn’t there any more footage of this?”

The sudden shout caused Heechul to jerk and fall from the desk he was sitting on. “I’m afraid that’s the only camera that covered this section. And the area where your boyfriend went was close to the backdoor and an aisle with the super antique books. No one tends to go there. Although I think there’s a camera fixed there-”

“Then what are you waiting for? Go get it!”

“Relax! That camera is-”

“I don’t care! That’s our only hope of finding where Junmyeon is!” Scared by the outburst, Heechul scurried over to hide behind Wendy.

“Kris! Calm down!” Kyungsoo shouted.

Kris took a deep breath, composing himself. “I’m sorry. I just want Junmyeon back.”

Heechul carefully stepped out from behind Wendy. “It’s okay. I understand. I just want to say that the camera that covered the antique books aisle has a teeny bit of a problem.”

“Is it not working?” Baekhyun asked. Heechul turned to shake his head at him.

“It’s an old model?” Jongin tried but Heechul shook his head again.

Chanyeol snorted, “The camera is blocked by a low-vaulted ceiling, isn’t it?”

Heechul lit up. “That’s right! I tried calling corporate many times to fix this problem and-”

Wendy raised her hand to stop Heechul as she cast a suspicious glance at Chanyeol. “How did you know that?”

“What do you mean?” Chanyeol’s eyes widened.

Wendy studied his face carefully. “Even some of the people who work here don’t know about that. So tell me, _how did you know_?”

“I-I…”Chanyeol began to stutter. All eyes were now fixed at him. Nervousness crept over him and he broke into a run but since Jongin was standing behind him, the tanned male merely stepped to the side to obstruct his way. As Chanyeol was about to side-step the younger male, Tao launched himself at Chanyeol, tackling him onto the ground.

“It was you who was talking to Junmyeon-hyung isn’t it!” Tao yelled.

“Stop! Stop! I can explain everything!” Chanyeol was terrified as Tao yanked his collar upwards.

“Unbelievable…he didn’t even try to deny it,” Kyungsoo muttered under his breath.

“WHERE’S JUNMYEON-HYUNG?” Tao screamed at Chanyeol’s face.

“Enough,” Kris intervened before sighing. “Release him. He already said that he would explain.”

Tao wanted to protest but he knew better than that since they could not afford to waste any more time. He reluctantly backed away from Chanyeol who gulped for air greedily. Chanyeol sat upright and kept his ashamed gaze on the floor when a pair of shoes came to his view. Chanyeol lifted his gaze up to meet a disappointed-looking Kris.

“Why did you do it, Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol felt even more ashamed now that Kris never even called him by his nickname. He really screwed up big time.

“I-I just wanted us to go back to old times,” he suddenly felt small all of sudden.

“What the fuck? You did this out of jealousy?” Tao bristled.

Chanyeol sighed. “I admit I have a crush on you since our university times and the feelings become stronger as time lets on. I wanted to confess to you badly but I was scared that you won’t reciprocate my feelings. Then Junmyeon-hyung entered the picture and I…felt betrayed I guess.”

“I didn’t know you felt that way about me. I’m sorry Chanyeol but I only see you as my best friend,” Kris gazed sympathetically at Chanyeol who seemed heartbroken by the rejection.

“Oh boo hoo it turns out your love is one-sided. Now tell us where Junmyeon-hyung is!” Tao yelled.

“Fine. I was drowning my sorrows in a bar and I met that Zhang Yixing guy. I-I had no idea who he was at that time but I could remember our conversation slightly while I was drunk.”

“Chanyeol, what were you two talking about?” Kris asked, suddenly worried.

Chanyeol froze and glanced at Kris guiltily. Tao has had enough.

“Just hurry up and spit it out!”

“I somehow convinced him to have sex with Junmyeon-hyung,” Chanyeol quickly answered. “He was confused why Junmyeon-hyung refused to accept his offer to be with him again so I told him maybe it’s ‘cos they have never done it yet.”

Kris sighed. There was no point getting angry and wasting even more valuable time. “Do you know where they are?”

“He didn’t tell me. But when I helped carry Junmyeon-hyung to his car, I heard the GPS in his car mentioning Exordium Hotel. So I guess that’s where he went.”

“That’ll do. Come on guys! Let’s go!” Kris proceeded to leave with the rest of the guys, leaving Chanyeol there. Chanyeol began to beat himself up when he heard a voice calling for him.

“Chanyeol. Hurry up.” Chanyeol raised his gaze to see Kris standing near the door, apparently waiting for him.

“What?! But he-” Tao began to protest.

“Chanyeol,” Kris cut him off. “Let’s go.”

Chanyeol wiped the tears that were brimming in his eyes. It seemed that Kris had forgiven him or at least, was willing to forgive him. Chanyeol quickly went over to join the group.

“Thanks for everything!” Kris told Wendy and Heechul before running out the store with a mission, with the rest of the guys closely behind him.

Wendy shouted from behind them. “Good luck guys!”

“Man, that’s the most drama I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I’m glad I came to work today,” Heechul commented before receiving a hard smack on the head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brace yourself for the next chapter, guys. It has a little bit of dark content.


	25. Past and Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: a certain 'forcing on someone' scene. If you're triggered by this, please don't read.

‘Where is it? Where is it? WHERE IS IT!?’ Junmyeon’s mind screamed as he frantically searched for the book. After checking title by title vigorously in the ‘New Releases’ section for the fifth time, the pretty male groaned in frustration as he banged his fist onto the bookshelf, causing it to shake.

“Excuse me, sir? Is there a problem?” A soft voice caused Junmyeon to spin around to face the addressor. His eyes widened as he spotted a young woman with bright red hair sporting a stern expression. His eyes dropped to her name tag that read ‘WENDY’ with the word ‘MANAGER’ below it.

Sensing that he was going to be in trouble for disturbing other patrons, Junmyeon bowed and apologized sincerely before explaining his problem.

“So you’re searching for this book title called ‘Glory Day’?” Wendy hummed thoughtfully after receiving a nod from the male. “It’s a very hot title. It’s still in very high demand even after one month and it’s hard to find it anywhere.”

“I see…” Junmyeon’s face fell, his shoulders slumped with disappointment.

“Sir, why don’t you follow me?” Junmyeon instantly raised his head and even though he was confused, he followed the woman. They stopped by a door that said ‘Staff only’ before Wendy turned to face the pale male.

“This is between you and me. Red Velvet Bookstore is always one step ahead of its competitors and we always ensure to get excessive stock, especially for popular titles. We place a small number of them and we don’t restock till the next day. It’s a business strategy to lure more customers,” Wendy expertly explained in one breath.

Junmyeon gaped, speechless. He was clueless on why the manager suddenly shared her bookstore’s business strategy to a complete stranger and out of the blue at that.

Wendy sighed as she had to spell it all out. “In other words, I’m going to give you a copy.”

It took several seconds for the words to register in Junmyeon’s mind. “Really?!”

“Thank you so much!” Junmyeon bowed gratefully. When he straightened, he asked, “But why?”

Wendy let out a gentle laugh. “’Cos it seems that your mind won’t be at ease till you have the book in your hands. And besides, you’re cute. So there you have it.”

Glancing at his pink bunny headband, she shot him a smile before opening the door and entering the storeroom. Since the door was left ajar, Junmyeon could see a lot of boxes of books arranged neatly on the floor. He spotted some familiar titles that had not even officially hit bookstores yet. The pale male poked in his head in the room and when he could not spot Wendy, he debated on whether he should just enter it to take a quick peek. As he took one step inside the room, he heard a shout behind him.

“Junmyeon-hyung!”

Thinking that he got caught in the act, the surprised male jumped before spinning around with fright. His eyes widened as he recognized the person.

“Chanyeol?”

The tall male sheepishly grinned at him and jogged towards him. “Hey! Fancy seeing you here!”

“Oh hey,” Junmyeon took subtle steps away from the storeroom.

“Junmyeon-hyung, you like reading books?” Chanyeol innocently asked.

‘Obviously! Why the heck am I even doing here if I don’t like reading them?’ was what Junmyeon wanted to give as a response but knew better since a rash answer like that would scare Chanyeol away.

“Yeah… You like to read books too?”

“Not at all! I was just…finding my five-year-old niece a nice book to read,” the tall male supplied before laughing.

The pair then lapsed into an awkward silence with neither party knowing what to say next.

“By the way, Kris told me you’re a huge fan of Star Wars,” Chanyeol spoke after a few moments.

“He did?” Junmyeon was surprised that Kris had disclosed such a personal information to anyone, even his own best friend. The pale male was extremely uncomfortable when people who he hardly met knew such private details about him. And he thought that Kris was aware of that. Unless his boyfriend accidentally let it slip while conversing with his best friend. Yeah, that must be it.

“I just saw some limited edition Star Wars merchandise when I was walking around. Want to go see?”

Junmyeon perked up. “Really? Sure!”

Strangely enough, Chanyeol stepped aside to allow the pale male to walk ahead, saying that he would lead him from behind. As they walked towards the other end of the bookstore, Junmyeon furrowed his brows as he slowly realized that there was no Star Wars merchandise in sight. He spun around abruptly and cast a suspicious glance at Chanyeol.

“There’s no Star Wars here.”

 “There isn’t.” Chanyeol offered an apologetic smile. Then slowly, his eyes narrowed and his expression darkened considerably.

“But you’re pretty dumb enough to fall for it, aren’t you hyung?”

Before Junmyeon could speak, a hand appeared behind the smaller male, covering his mouth and nose with a cloth soaked in chloroform. His screams were muffled by the damp cloth and soon, Junmyeon found himself losing consciousness and slumped back into the arms of his assailant.

* * *

A painful headache shot through his head. Junmyeon groaned as he struggled to open his eyes. When his vision finally cleared, he could make out the extremely dim and dull lights and the ceiling that was stained with dirty patches. Junmyeon then tried to sit up but his limbs felt extremely heavy, insistently pushing him down on the bed.

Wait. Bed?

“Are you awake, baby?” The voice jolted Junmyeon from his thoughts, suddenly making him more alert. Junmyeon could recognize that voice anywhere and hearing it brought chills to his spine.  

Junmyeon held his breath as he shifted his gaze to the sickeningly sweet expression of his captor who was lying on the space beside him, propped up on his elbow.

“Yixing…” Junmyeon managed to breathe out. The way his former fiancé was staring at him was rather unsettling to say the least and Junmyeon could not help but feel naked under Yixing’s predatory gaze.

Yixing gave a beguiling smirk. “You’ve been asleep for a long time, baby. I must have used a little too much chloroform. But fret not, darling, I’ve been watching you since we’ve been here. My eyes have never left you for the past 5 hours. I won’t let you be harmed anymore, my sweetheart.”

“S-Stop…calling…me that...” Junmyeon gritted his teeth as he struggled to voice out his anger. It was clear as day that the drugs were still affecting his system.

“Why? Baby, darling, sweetheart. You love it when we use pet names on each other, don’t you?”

Junmyeon opened his mouth to protest when Yixing pressed a finger on his lips.

“Sshh…You shouldn’t strain yourself, baby. The drugs will take a while before they wear off.”

Junmyeon could only glare at his former fiancé who remained unfazed. Meanwhile, Yixing continued to admire Junmyeon’s face before brushing the stray bangs from the pale male’s forehead.

“You’re as beautiful as I remembered, Myeonie. Your brown eyes are so alluring. Your hair smells like fresh flowers. Your skin is so fair and flawless,” Yixing paused as he moved his body to hover above Junmyeon, his hands caging the pale male. Yixing then leaned in to brush his lips against Junmyeon’s briefly before pulling away. “And your lips feel so soft. I’m ashamed of myself for not noticing this earlier. But don’t worry baby, from now on, I’ll make sure I’ll always give you all the attention and love you need and deserve.”

All Junmyeon could do was to helplessly stare at the deranged-looking Chinese male. He had very much wanted to resist when Yixing kissed him but his body was still under the influence of the drugs. A lot of thoughts were swimming through his mind at that moment. He felt that Yixing was behaving rather strangely and this served to make him feel more guarded, as if bracing himself for something bad that was about to happen. Before Junmyeon could entertain his thoughts further, Yixing suddenly leaned back and started unbuttoning his own shirt.

“W-What…are…you doing?” Junmyeon struggled to say as another painful headache struck him once more.

Yixing paused in removing his shirt to give a rather twisted smile. “Why…We’re going to consummate our relationship of course.”

“I’ve heard that it’s going to make our feelings for each other grow much stronger,” Yixing already had his shirt off and threw it haphazardly at the floor and was now working on his own jeans.

The words were slowly buffering in Junmyeon’s mind before he realized what Yixing was talking about. Junmyeon’s eyes widened in alarm.

“N-No!” Junmyeon wanted to leave very badly but his body was not obeying him.  

Yixing glanced at him with a strange look, pausing at his state of undress. “I know you want to save your chastity till after marriage but sometimes, we have to act fast before it’s too late. I really want to be your first, Myeonie.”

At this point, Junmyeon was internally panicking and started to squirm beneath the Chinese male. Yixing was already at his boxers and he forcefully pressed the pale male down.

“Calm down, baby! It’s going to hurt but you’ll be overwhelmed with pleasure afterwards. You’ll soon enjoy it, I promise.”

“K-Kris…” Junmyeon weakly called out.

At the mention of that name, Yixing frowned, his fists clenching.

“Why are you still so fixated with that hooligan? I really can’t comprehend why you’re so deeply in love with him! _I’m_ so much superior to him in so many ways! _I_ was the student council president. _I_ was the model student whom everyone, including the teachers look up to! _I_ ranked first in the entire school cohort for academics! But that guy…his parents neglect him, everyone was scared of him, he placed at the bottom with his grades, he had no friends! I JUST DON’T GET IT!”

Anger coursing through his veins, Yixing seized a fistful of Junmyeon’s hair and yanked it hard, making the pale male yelp in pain. Yixing then shoved his tongue inside Junmyeon’s mouth as he used his other hand to slip under the pale male’s shirt to rub on his nipples. Junmyeon felt himself growing dizzy as Yixing mercilessly explored the entire cavern of his mouth. He wanted to scream at Yixing to stop but his senses were starting to blur rapidly and Junmyeon could only surrender his body to Yixing. It was only when he felt Yixing’s hand groping his crotch and popping the button of his jeans that Junmyeon suddenly grew alert.

Junmyeon bit hard on Yixing’s tongue, causing the other to draw back violently.

“Wha-?” Yixing winced as he tasted blood on his tongue.

“ZHANG YIXING! STOP IT!”

At Junmyeon’s harsh scream, Yixing flinched and glanced at the pale male, his eyes growing wide with fright. Junmyeon was heavily panting as he tried to speak as clearly as possible. “Yixing…I know you’ve changed. I don’t know the reason…but I just know that…you would never stoop this low to rape me.”

It all dawned on Yixing that he was shamelessly forcing himself on Junmyeon. He was no different than all those sick rapists that he had loathed so much. He was acting like a _monster_.

“I-I’m…” Yixing reached for his discarded shirt and pants on the floor, and quickly pulled them on. Gasping violently, Yixing staggered out of the room, shame weighing down on him.

* * *

Guilt and shame still overwhelmed him as he reached the hotel lobby. Those feelings were so powerful that Yixing failed to register when he accidentally brushed against someone’s shoulder.

“You bastard! Watch where you’re going!” But the shout fell on deaf ears. Yixing continued to walk forward until he entered a desolate alley. The air outside was really stuffy and Yixing found himself coughing incessantly once he exited the shady-looking hotel. Well, that was what he get for booking a shady, dilapidated hotel in order to not rouse suspicion.

As he leaned against a wall, Yixing hastily went to grab a cigarette from his jean pocket and was about to light it up when he was shoved violently against the wall, dropping his cigarette and lighter in the process.

“Tell me where Junmyeon is right now!”

Yixing felt himself being yanked above the ground and he struggled to breathe with the harsh grip choking his neck.

“Where the heck is Junmyeon?”

Yixing lifted his gaze to meet his enemy’s eyes and gave a smirk. “Like I’m ever going to tell you!”

“Why you…” Kris loosened his hold on Yixing as he slowly took in the other’s dishevelled appearance. “D-Don’t tell me…Did you two actually do it?”

Yixing maintained his confident smirk. “What if we did?”

“Do you want to hear a detailed personal account on how Junmyeon enjoyed it? On how he screamed my name, begging me to go faster? And do you want to know about how-”

“Shut up!” Kris pulled back a fist to aim a punch at Yixing.

“Punch me then! Go punch me, Kevin!” Yixing challenged the other male. “That’s what you always resort to when you’re angry or when things don’t go your way, right? Violence is always your answer to everything! You have not changed at all!”

At hearing those words, Kris sighed before putting his hand to his side. He loosened his grip on Yixing’s collar before letting it go.

“Just…what happened to you, Yixing? We used to be so close. You became my friend even when nobody wanted to and when I myself rejected you. You never gave up and diligently tutored me till my grades improved. We became very close friends after that, always at each other’s side. And suddenly, you started acting differenly. Not yourself.”

“You wouldn’t even understand even if I told you,” Yixing’s expression darkened.

Kris blatantly rolled his eyes. “If you won’t even tell me anything, I won’t even be able understand you to begin with! Really Yixing! When are you going to stop acting so fucking arrogant? Everyone goes through some tough shit at some point of their lives. And they get past them by having support from others. Not by shutting themselves out and hurting other people!”

“My mum committed suicide, Kevin,” Yixing said quietly.

“W-What?” Kris’ eyes widened.

“You heard me. I was devastated when I found out.”

“I-It wasn’t a car accident?”

Yixing puffed out a laugh. “No. That’s what my father said to stop people from asking any questions. He wanted to prevent a scandal from happening, especially when the company was going through some problems at that time. So, he lied through his teeth, even had one of his associates jailed for supposedly knocking down his wife and causing manslaughter. When the actual reason was that his wife - my mother committed suicide. Just to save his image. Just so that the police won’t investigate further.”

“Shit. I’m sorry, Yixing.”

“I visit my mum’s grave every Thursday since her burial. Cursing at her. Scolding her. She didn’t even leave behind a note! And ever since she was gone, my father doubled his pressure on me and treated me even shittier than before. My mother would always be there to stop him somehow but my life has grown to be a living hell with her gone. I somehow could tell that I was beginning to act cold towards Junmyeon and he somehow sensed that I’m no longer the same guy he knew before and so he tried to break up with me. But I stopped him and ended up venting my own frustrations on him.”

“Junmyeon doesn’t deserve that…”

“It’s funny though. Back then, Junmyeon had this huge crush on you,” Yixing snorted as he disclosed that piece of information.

“What?”

“That’s right. After his bunny uh…”

“Michael.”

“Yeah after Michael got kidnapped and you helped rescue him, Junmyeon was so grateful at you but he was scared after seeing how much you were bleeding. So, he went to me and gushed about your heroism and he then admitted his feelings for you. And he asked me whether you would like him back if he were to confess to you.”

“What did you tell him?”

“You’re going to hate me for this but I lied to him. I said ‘no’ and I made up stories about your reputation about how you beat up someone so hard he was warded in a hospital and I even manipulated certain events so that they would end up against your favour. I did all of that to make him change his mind about confessing to you.”

Kris sighed. “Why did you do that?”

“Because I also had a crush on Junmyeon. I started crushing on him ever since I kept catching him sneaking animals into the school. When I found out that you like him too, I wasn’t intimidated at all ‘cos I thought if Junmyeon would have a crush on any of us, he would have a crush on me. I was the model student. I was the head of the school council. I scored the highest marks in school, even setting some records. I hung out with you, a delinquent who barely passed his exams. People always greet me in the hallways while giving you the stink-eye. And yet, innocent Junmyeon fell for you instead of me. I thought it was unfair since I was so much superior than you back then.”

Yixing lifted his gaze to meet Kris’. “Are you angry with me now, Kevin? Now that you know the whole truth, do you dislike me even more now?”

“To be honest, I’m not.”

“What?” Yixing’s eyes widened.

“Yixing, you’re just a troubled individual,” Kris answered simply. The blonde was caught by surprise when Yixing suddenly punched him on the jaw.

“You’ve grown weaker, Kevin. Did the short-tempered and violent Kevin change into soft-hearted and weak Kris?” Yixing aimed a punch again but Kris effortlessly intercepted it.

“If that’s what you want to call me, so be it.”

Yixing snorted a laugh. “You know I intercepted the letters between you and Junmyeon. The one where you penned under ‘Mr Galaxy’.”

“I remember. Whatever you did or said to me Yixing is water over the dam now. I forgive you,” Kris calmly responded. “Right now, there are things that are bigger than the both of us. And I don’t want us to hold a grudge against each other by some incidents that happened 7 years ago.”

Yixing shook himself free from Kris’ grip before releasing a heavy sigh. “I hate how you have grown so much mature now. I don’t want to admit this, but I guess I can understand why Junmyeon loves you so much. And, you can relax ‘cos me and Junmyeon did not have sex just now.”

At that, Kris heaved a sigh of relief. “Thanks Yixing.”

“Whatever. Come on, I’ll tell you where Junmyeon is.”

* * *

As the duo neared the hotel room, Yixing frowned at the sight of the door being left ajar. Meanwhile, a trickle of anxiety wormed through Kris’ stomach and he quickened his pace. As they hurriedly entered the room, they were shocked to see the room messed up, as if someone had completely ransacked it. The bed sheets were crumpled, and the pillows, hangers and table items were all scattered over the floor.

“What the hell happened here? And where’s Junmyeon?” Kris spoke, his voice laced with intense urgency.

Yixing remained silent, fear and apprehension filling his core. He was on the verge of a mental breakdown when he noticed a stray piece of paper perched on the bed. Yixing carefully picked it up and frowned as he saw a bunch of numbers scrawled over it.

“Damn it, Yixing. Did you have some enemies that took Junmyeon?” Panic struck Kris as he watched Yixing punch in some numbers on his phone.

“Actually, it might be _our_ enemy,” Yixing presented the paper to the older male whose face paled when he spotted a hastily-drawn bunny beside the numbers. As the call was being connected, Yixing switched on the speakerphone function.

_“Hello?”_

“You took Junmyeon, didn’t you?” Yixing went straight to the point as Kris had a horrified look on his face.

A sardonic laugh resounded over the phone.

_“We have him here alright. He’s sleeping right now and he looks so beautiful like a woman that I just wanna-”_

“You bastard! Don’t you ever touch him!” Kris yelled over the phone.

_“My, my. What a temper your best friend has. He still hasn’t changed even after all these years, has he? Anyway, it’s just our luck crossing paths with two of the richest men in Korea. Finally we can have our revenge.”_

“Just tell us what you want,” Yixing said.

_“We want 2 billion won in two separate briefcases. Deliver them to us in 2 hours. We’ll message you the location. And, don’t you ever call the police. No funny business or this pretty man will get it.”_

“Understood,” Yixing replied.

 _“Good, good. Leeteuk out.”_ And with that, the call ended.

“Shitshitshitshit,” Kris cursed as he paced around the room rapidly. “Junmyeon’s in danger! I need to save him!”

“Where are you going?” Yixing called out as Kris was a few feet away from the door.

“I’m going to save Junmyeon of course,” Kris replied, glancing back over his shoulder.

“So you’re just going to fall for the threat and give them the money.”

“As long as Junmyeon would be returned to me safe and sound.”

“Don’t you even have a plan?”

“The plan is to rescue Junmyeon.”

“No, you idiot,” Yixing sighed exasperatedly. “A plan where we can get away unscathed.”

“Well I- wait ‘we’?”

“I’m doing this for Junmyeon’s sake. After all, I’m responsible for him being missing. But don’t think just ‘cos we had a one-on-one talk, we’re suddenly tight again,” Yixing warned him.

Kris smiled, assured that his best friend was going to help him out. Just like old times. “Let’s go, Yixing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you guys are confused on who the enemy is, refer to Chapter 14. And, Junmyeon just can't catch a break, can he? 


	26. Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A small warning: There are some strong sexual language in this chapter so if that triggers you, PLEASE DON'T READ.

Junmyeon really wanted to leave. He really did but he could barely walk a couple of steps steadily before tumbling down to the carpeted floor. So, currently, the slightly giddy male was sprawled awkwardly across the carpeted floor. His limbs refused to cooperate with him and a lot of strength was needed to even lift his finger. He struggled to lift himself up from the floor using his arm, but to no avail.

Letting out a long-suffering sigh, Junmyeon rested his cheek against the smooth carpet. The sweet smell of chloroform still lingered in the air and it was starting to suffocate him. Yixing was not kidding when he admitted that he used too much of it. Junmyeon’s mind drifted to what had happened earlier – or rather, _almost_ happened. He really had no idea what had happened to his former fiancé. For everything that he knew about Yixing, he had never expected the Chinese male to be so demented to do such a monstrous thing to him.

Was Yixing _that_ desperate to have him back?

The sound of a doorknob rattling snapped Junmyeon out of his thoughts. Gathering his strength, Junmyeon placed his hand on the edge of the bed to lift himself from the floor to find the doorknob being rattled violently. He found it was strange. If it was Yixing, he would have easily entered the room since he would have the key. If it was the hotel staff, they would have knocked first.

So, who would be so desperate to enter this room?

Unless it was Kris. At that, Junmyeon perked up as he giddily waited for his lover whom he missed so much. Suddenly, the door was violently ripped off its hinges and the people behind the door were revealed.

“Way to go, Kangin!”

Junmyeon’s smile faltered. Never would he had expected that he would cross paths again with the senior delinquents who tortured Michael mercilessly back in high school. Panic struck him as he realized that he had no means of escaping, not to mention that he was completely outnumbered.

“Woah! Pretty boy is still pretty!”

“Enough yapping! Hurry up and get him!”

Junmyeon barely registered the voices in his panic-stricken state and in the next moment, he found his world turning black as the familiar solvent made its return to his system.

* * *

Junmyeon stirred into consciousness and registered a rough voice as his senses began to recover.

“-No funny business or this pretty man will get it.”

Junmyeon stretched his neck to glance up at the speaker. It was a difficult task to do since he was lying on the concrete floor with his arms tied tightly behind him.

“Good, good. Leeteuk out.”

Leeteuk. He was the leader of the senior delinquents and he was the one who started the brawl which got Kris and Yixing involved and which resulted in the delinquents getting expelled. If not for him, Michael would not have lost a limb at all. At that unpleasant memory, Junmyeon glared at Leeteuk.

“What’s up with the long face? It doesn’t suit you, princess,” the new voice caused Junmyeon to shift his glare at the new speaker, Siwon whose lips were twisted into an evil smirk. Siwon reached forward to roughly grab Junmyeon’s chin, forcing the other to face him. “Damn. I can stare at your pretty face for hours.”

Junmyeon shook free from the rough grip and tried to bite on the fingers but Siwon narrowly avoided it.

“This princess is a little feisty, isn’t he?” This time it was Kangin who spoke. Junmyeon recalled him as being the muscle of the group, which was why it was easy for him to break down the door to the hotel room earlier. Kangin crouched down, levelling his gaze at Junmyeon. “Remember us?”

Junmyeon surveyed the faces around him and realized that the entire gang of hooligans was there, including Yesung, Zhou Mi and Shindong. The seniors were nothing but trouble in his high school. Junmyeon did not think that he would meet them ever again because he thought troublemakers like them would probably be rotting away in jail.

“Yeah. You guys are still as ugly as ever,” Junmyeon spat. It was an incredibly bold thing to say and Junmyeon basked in his triumph of seeing the scandalized looks on the delinquents’ faces. But it was only for a brief moment before Kangin grabbed his hair and yanked it upwards, earning a cry from the pale male.

“You have a mouth on you. I like that. I can’t wait to have my way with you later. You’re gonna give me more excitement than all the whores I’ve fucked,” Kangin licked his lips hungrily.

“Hands off of me, you dirty old pervert!” Junmyeon spat on Kangin’s face. Kangin was taken by surprise that he instantly let go of Junmyeon.

A guffaw was heard from behind Kangin, echoing in the empty warehouse.

“Hyung, you’re a pervert!” Siwon laughed.

“This kid is really worth kidnapping,” Zhou Mi remarked as he joined in the laughter. “I mean, other than the ransom of course.”

“Ransom?” Junmyeon blurted. His heart was gripped by panic as soon as he heard that word.

“That’s right, honey. We’re going to get ourselves a huge fortune from your two boyfriends,” Leeteuk responded. “We’re actually planning to rob a bank but then that smug student council president bumped into us in the hotel. He didn’t even apologize to us, that arrogant bastard. But it occurred to us that he was filthy rich so we forced the receptionist to tell us his room number. We thought we could rob his room and we ended up finding you so now you’re our hostage while we wait for our riches.”

“Idiot. Why’d you have to tell him everything,” Kangin grumbled under his breath.

“Does it matter though? It’s not like we’re giving him back to them anyway,” Yesung commented.

Siwon grinned at that. “Yeah we’re going to kill his two boyfriends after they bring us the money. And then we’re going to take turns to have our way with you princess. And you’re going to be our toy for life.”

Colour drained from Junmyeon’s face after hearing those nasty things. Kris and Yixing were going to rescue him and they had no idea it was going to be a trap. And they might die too. Junmyeon would never forgive himself if anything bad had happened to his boyfriend and former fiancé.

Noticing Junmyeon’s terrified expression, Kangin smirked. “Are you scared now? Well, you’d wished you have not irritated me.”

* * *

Shindong ran inside the warehouse. “Hyung, they’re here,” he panted heavily as beads of perspiration formed on his face. Junmyeon observed him quietly. He could tell that Shindong was unlike the others; Shindong had guilt and uneasiness written all over his face. It was obvious that he did not agree with this whole plan of theirs.

“Nice. It’s show time!” Siwon rubbed his hands in glee.

Leeteuk hauled the bound Junmyeon up to his feet and flashed a switchblade in front of Junmyeon’s eyes.

“No funny ideas. You scream, and I’ll cut you, understood?” Leeteuk threatened. When Junmyeon gave a weak nod in response, Leeteuk pushed him forward before stopping to stand beside Siwon. Leeteuk then wrapped his arm around Junmyeon’s neck before resting the switchblade against his throat.

“Now then,” Leeteuk smirked at Junmyeon. “Let’s see if your Prince Charmings will come to your rescue.”

The whole group was facing the entrance of the warehouse, waiting for their visitors to enter. Junmyeon swallowed his gulp nervously. He hoped that blood would not be shed when all of this was over. There was a sound of a car skidding to a halt and then the sound of the car doors opening before being slammed harshly. Footsteps sounded towards the entrance and when the door was pushed open, Junmyeon held his breath. He held himself back from shouting in relief when Yixing and Kris entered the warehouse.

Yixing and Kris stepped inside the warehouse and immediately their eyes searched for Junmyeon among the small crowd in front of them. They froze in their steps when they saw Junmyeon being held at knifepoint.

“Come on closer. We promise we won’t bite,” Kangin sneered at the newcomers.

“You bastards better not have hurt him!” Kris growled, his yell echoing in the warehouse.

“Such a fierce tiger,” Siwon pretended to shiver.

“Okay that’s enough,” Yixing interrupted, placing a hand on Kris’ chest to stop him from charging forward. “We’ve brought you the money, as you told us to do.”

To emphasize his point, Yixing jiggled the huge silver briefcase that he was holding with his left hand.

“Come forward,” Leeteuk ordered and the pair complied. “Stop there. Now, open it. If I see nothing inside, I won’t hesitate to slice his pretty little throat!”

“Can you relax? We both know better than to try to fool you,” Yixing gently placed the briefcase on the ground before opening it in one quick motion. True to his word, bundles of money were arranged neatly and stacked above each other, filling the briefcase to the brim.

“Yesung, check whether they’re authentic,” Leeteuk ordered as he wrapped his arm even tighter around Junmyeon’s neck.

Yesung complied and crouched down to inspect the money in the briefcase, making sure that it was the correct amount as requested. While their attention was fixed on Yixing, Kris and the briefcase of money in front of them, they were oblivious to a group of people sneaking up behind them. Kyungsoo, Jongin, Baekhyun and Chanyeol were following Tao’s lead as they inched closer to the delinquents. The plan was to launch a sneak attack on the delinquents, save Junmyeon and get the hell out of there. Due to the narrow space of the warehouse, it was quite cramped and dusty. They were getting closer to the group when-

_AH CHOO!_

Chanyeol sneezed loudly, his sneeze echoing off the surrounding walls. As expected, it stole the attention from the group in front of them, including Yixing and Kris, whose faces crumpled at the fact that their perfect plan had now been ruined.

“Fuck it!” Tao cursed loudly and brandished his wushu stick before charging towards Zhou Mi and Siwon who were obstructing him from Junmyeon. Junmyeon’s safety was their priority. Tao managed to catch his two targets unawares, knocking them both to the ground. Everyone else in the room, excluding Yixing, had wide-eyed expressions with slack jaws, impressed by Tao’s incredible fighting skills.

Tao glared at Leeteuk whose jaw dropped comically. “You’re next.”

At once, a brawl began. With warlike cries, Kyungsoo, Jongin and Baekhyun all came storming towards Kangin, the biggest guy in the room, while Chanyeol and Shindong retreated to the opposite corners of the warehouse, staying clear of the entire conflict. Meanwhile, Yixing promptly slammed the briefcase shut, clamping down on Yesung’s fingers which led him to cry in pain. Yixing then opened the briefcase and aimed a kick at Yesung’s chest, pushing the latter to the ground. Swiftly locking the briefcase shut, Yixing swung it to smash against Yesung’s head, successfully knocking the latter unconscious.

“Stay down,” Yixing ordered as he slung the briefcase over his shoulder. When he was certain that Yesung was out cold, he turned to face Kris. “Kris, get Junmyeon. I’ll cover you.”

Kris nodded his head gratefully at Yixing before running towards Junmyeon.

While the rest was involved in their own respective fights, Tao charged towards the shocked Leeteuk and thrust his wushu stick on Leeteuk’s hand, loosening his hold and freeing Junmyeon from his tight grasp. Immediately, Tao aimed another harsh hit on the hand that held the switchblade, causing Leeteuk to drop it to the ground. With the switchblade out of his reach, Tao shoved Leeteuk to the hard concrete.

“Junmyeon-hyung, are you okay?” Tao worriedly asked. “They didn’t do anything to you, did they?”

“No, I’m fine, Zitao. Completely fine. Tha-” Before Junmyeon could finish his sentence, Zhou Mi lunged towards Tao, leading to them rolling over the ground.  

“Junmyeon!” A deep voice called out.

Junmyeon swivelled his head when he heard the familiar voice. “Kris!”

Tears welled up in Junmyeon’s eyes as he spotted Kris running towards him. Oh, how he missed Kris so much. However, before Kris could even reach Junmyeon, from out of nowhere, Siwon launched himself at Kris, tackling the giant to the ground.

“Oh no! Kris!” Junmyeon cried out.

Even with their combined strength, Kyungsoo, Jongin and Baekhyun struggled to shove Kangin to the ground. When their strengths started to deplete, Kangin effortlessly broke free from their grips, causing the trio to fall backwards as they groaned in pain.

“You pipsqueaks are fucking weak!” Kangin sauntered towards Baekhyun and easily lifted the shorter man off the ground with a grip around his throat. “Time for you to die!”

Seeing his friend in danger, Chanyeol, who was cowering in the corner, grabbed a wooden plank that was near his foot before running towards Kangin to hit the burly man with the plank directly on the head. It seemed to be a really painful hit because Kangin instantly let go of Baekhyun before staggering to the side and dropping to the floor. Chanyeol glanced down to his hand and was shocked to find out that the plank snapped into half. Throwing away the useless wood, Chanyeol ran towards Baekhyun who was gasping for air and massaging his bruised throat.

“Are you okay?” Baekhyun looked up to glance at his saviour.

“You…saved me. Thank you…” Chanyeol smiled before holding out his hand that Baekhyun gladly accepted.

Meanwhile, Junmyeon watched with a horrified expression as Kris wrestled with Siwon while Yixing tried to pry Siwon off of Kris. Junmyeon nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt his bound hands being pulled roughly. Junmyeon glanced to his side to see Shindong untying the tight ropes around his wrists frantically.

“I’m so sorry, Junmyeon! I’m sorry that you and your friends got involved in this huge mess!” When his wrists were finally freed from its restraints, Junmyeon proceeded to massage his bruised wrists.

“Thank you, Shindong,” Junmyeon thanked him and was about to run towards Kris when Shindong stopped him.

“That guy with the blonde hair…he’s your boyfriend, isn’t he?” At hearing the word ‘boyfriend’, Junmyeon blushed in spite of the circumstances that he was in.

“Yeah he is,” Junmyeon admitted shyly.

“Don’t worry, you guys will get back together. You stay here while I will hold off Siwon.” And with that, Shindong threw himself at Siwon, successfully prying him away from Kris.

“Shindong, you traitor!” Siwon yelled as he was tackled to the ground. With his weight, Shindong pressed Siwon firmly to the ground, with Yixing kicking Siwon repeatedly at his side.

“Kris!” Junmyeon cried out as he hugged his lover tightly, as if they had been separated from each other for years.

“Myeon, I’m so glad to see you safe and sound,” Kris whispered against his boyfriend’s ear before releasing the other from the tight embrace. “You’re okay, right?”

Junmyeon nodded his head vigorously before pulling his boyfriend into another hug. Junmyeon’s eyes widened with fright as he spotted an angry Leeteuk charging at them.

“Kris! Watch out!” At hearing Junmyeon’s frantic yell, Kris pulled away from his lover to swivel his head around at the danger behind him.

As Leeteuk was storming towards them, Kris pushed Junmyeon out of harm’s way. Standing up to his full height, Kris stopped Leeteuk’s arm that was aimed at his face and suddenly felt a sharp pain  to his abdomen. Kris glanced down to see a switchblade stabbed right into his abdomen. Smirking evilly, Leeteuk pulled the switchblade out and proceeded to stab him in the same area again, causing Kris to let out a soft strangled cry.

“Kris! No!” Junmyeon cried and with newfound strength, he shoved Leeteuk out of the way before the latter could stab Kris again. Kris then staggered to the side before collapsing onto the ground, the blood slowly seeping into his clothes.

“Oh my god, Kris. Oh no this can’t be happening…” Junmyeon began to take quick breaths as he took in Kris’s condition. Kris was struggling to breathe, his eyes wide and frantic. His face was starting to drain in colour. Not to mention, more blood started to pour out from the wound, pooling around the ground. With every passing second, Junmyeon grew more panic-stricken that he could not take it anymore.

“Everyone, stop fighting! JUST STOP IT!” Junmyeon screamed at the top of his lungs. Tears streaming down his face, he shouted at the crowd who paused to glance at him after hearing his frantic cry. “Someone, anyone, call the ambulance now!”

Wiping the tears off his face, Junmyeon quickly dropped to his knees and removed his jacket before applying pressure on the stab wound with his jacket. Junmyeon slowly pushed Kris to rest on his side with his head titled back.

“Kris…I’m so sorry…this is all my fault,” Junmyeon choked out as tears started to flow down his face again.

A hand then reached out to cup Junmyeon’s face.

“Don’t…apologize…”

“Stop talking, please Kris!” Junmyeon grabbed his hand and squeezed it in comfort, not caring about the blood that was smeared on his pale face.

As his strength started to give out, Kris could barely notice a crowd forming around him, worried expressions all around. Junmyeon was staring down at him with tears flowing down his face, looking so panic-stricken. How he wish he could just reach up and wipe those tears away but he could not find the strength in him to do so. His eyes rolled backwards as everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry guys *hides*


	27. The Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter contains mentions of sexual abuse and rape and a minor character death. Please do not read if you are triggered. 

It had been a long agonizing week for Yixing. From relentlessly pursuing Junmyeon and attempting to snatch him away from his former best friend (and failing at it) to having a long overdue conversation with said former best friend to saving Junmyeon from a group of senior delinquents who were still up to no good. Not to mention how Yixing had almost stole Junmyeon’s virginity in the vilest and most shameless manner.

Yixing let out a long-suffering sigh. It was a wonder how he had managed to have an adequate amount of sleep the night before, let alone went about his life as if nothing had really happened.  Well, the proposal from Kris to Junmyeon _did_ happen.

Yixing clenched his jaw and narrowed his glare at the all-too-familiar gravestone. To think that he would culminate his bizarre week with visiting his late mother’s grave. How convenient.  

“Child, you shouldn’t glare at your own mother’s grave like that. It’s very impolite.”

Instantly, Yixing focused his glare at the newcomer instead. The newcomer who was a well-dressed woman with a grey beanie covering her head flinched at that. At first glance, the woman looked young but upon closer inspection, deep wrinkles were detected near her eyes and mouth, and were sloppily concealed with thick makeup.

Nevertheless, the woman stood her ground. “I don’t believe your mother has raised you to be so impolite.”

Frowning, Yixing fired back, “Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Your aunt.”

Yixing stiffened, his eyes widening. “What?”

The woman sighed, shaking her head. “You’re Zhang Yixing, aren’t you? Your mother, Jia Hui is my older sister. I am Jia Yu.”

“My mama…has a sister? She had never told me that.”

Jia Yu eyed her nephew with pity. “Well, I’m not supposed to be alive so I’m not surprised. I was diagnosed with life-threatening cancer when I was living here years back so I went back to China but somehow, I have miraculously recovered.”

When Yixing just stared at her wordlessly, Jia Yu hastily added, “But this isn’t about me! Your mother wanted me to give this to you.”

Jia Yu retrieved a neatly sealed envelope from her handbag and handed it to Yixing who gingerly accepted it. “My m-mama?”

“Yeah. She entrusted me with this years ago, right before her…erm…suicide. I wanted to send it to you right after her death, but I had lost your address details. And I had no other way to contact with you. All these years, I tried very hard to locate you and I thought it was impossible. Until now.”

Jia Yu gave a weary smile to Yixing. “Actually, I met you the other time here. But you seemed grumpy so I didn’t approach you.”

She then patted her nephew’s arm pleadingly. “Please watch it, Yixing-ah. You would want to hear your Mama’s last words.”

* * *

_“Xing xing, it’s me, your Mama.”_

Yixing’s eyes rounded as his laptop screen showed his late mother’s face, in all her youthful glory. Unconsciously, Yixing reached his hand out and pressed his fingertips on the screen. His late mother’s eyes were soft and gentle, just like the way he had always remembered them but in the video, they were very puffy and red, as if she had been crying non-stop for hours. Her tender voice cracked as she spoke. Tears started to well up in Yixing’s eyes. What had happened to his dear mother?

 _“By the time you watched this video, it must have been days, or weeks, or months since my suicide. Maybe even years.”_ Yixing’s mother added through choked sobs.

_“Xing, my dear son…Mama is very sorry to have chosen this decision. This is the only way. You see, Xing-ah…your father…raped me.”_

Yixing’s hand dropped and his eyes widened.

_“Your father has been stressed about his work and has been frequently drinking because of that. Usually, he would just beat me mercilessly till he feels that he’s no longer stressed. But one night, he came home and forced himself on me. I was ashamed. I felt humiliated. I felt used. That night left me scarred and your dad didn’t even acknowledge what he even did to me. He then continued to do the same vile thing to me in the next consecutive nights. I told my parents, even my close friends but all of them told me that it’s just my husband showing his overwhelming affection towards me. My own dad even said I was overreacting. I-I was shocked. T-To find out that no one is on my side. Well, except only one person. My sister, Jia Yu believed me and is on my side. But she is in China now so she couldn’t give me adequate support. I really wanted to tell you, Xing-ah. B-but Mama is really scared to see your reaction. Because if you turned your back against me like my own parents and my own husband, I-I don’t know what to do. So, I have chosen to take my own life.”_

_“I’m sorry, Xing-ah. This is really cowardly of me but death is better than this mindless torture that I have to go through every night. I’m really sorry, Xing Xing. I wish I could’ve been there when you graduate. When you are start working on your first job. When you get married. When you have children of your own. I bet you are going to marry that handsome Korean boy, right? Junmyeon isn’t that his name? He’s a sweet boy. I’m glad that you’re with a person like him. When you two stare at each other with love, it just reminds me of how your dad and I used to be. I hope you and Junmyeon would be together forever. Bye bye Xing-ah. Take care of yourself. Mama loves you.”_

The screen then faded to black and as minutes ticked by, it was evident that there was nothing left to show in the video. A few large tears hit the floor before a body collapsed to the ground, curled up and shaking. For the first time in his life, Yixing had bawled his eyes out. And as he did so, he screamed his mother’s name.  

* * *

There was one thing left to do. One thing that Yixing had set his mind into and there was nothing that could stop him. Not even Chen’s pleas.

It was at the dead of night and luckily for Yixing, he managed to sneak past the nurses and doctors on their shifts and enter his father’s ward without getting caught. Fury filled Yixing’s eyes as he approached the bed where his motionless father lay, countless number of tubes strapped to his frail body. Stepping beside the bed, Yixing glared down at his father.

“You monster!” His voice that was barely concealed with unrestrained rage caused his father’s eyes to instantly open and widen in fear. “You raped Mama. You are a horrible husband and father!”

“I used to be so terrified of you. I remember those times when you placed such tremendous pressure on me. I had to always score a perfect 100 marks, full marks to every exam, test, quiz and even the minor assignments. If I ever get lesser than that, you would punish me. Your favourite punishment to me was to lock me in the cramped and dingy basement and denying me food and water, remember? If I scored one mark lesser, I would be locked for one night. Two marks lesser and it would be for two nights. What great parenting indeed.”

“You may not know this, but I had nightmares about it every now and then. Being trapped in small spaces. Not knowing when I would be free from that small and dark space. Which is why I always took the stairs and not the elevator. I’ve become claustrophobic all ‘cos of you, papa. I’ve become screwed up because of you, Papa. And Mama decided to end her life ‘cos of you! The perfect punishment for you is to _die_!”

At once, Yixing smothered his helpless father with a pillow. As his father struggled, Yixing continued to press the pillow harder onto his father’s nose till the sickening tone of a flat line echoed in the heart rate monitor and satisfyingly filled Yixing’s ears.

“S-Sir! What have you done?”

Yixing spun around to see a shocked nurse.

“I’m just giving the perfect punishment to a devil,” Yixing simply answered with no emotion on his face.

“T-That’s murder!”

Yixing threw a final glance at her before dashing out of the room. He did not have to turn his back to know that the nurse had already started to contact the police. He had expected that but there was one very important thing that he had to do while he still roamed free.

* * *

Yixing drove his car, exceeding the normal speed limit. The sound of police sirens was loud and blaring behind him but he did not care. Since he was already going to be detained for murder, what does he have to lose for breaking another law? He kept speeding till he had reached a certain destination. He had finally arrived at the house of which he had memorised its address.

Parking his car at the middle of the road, he quickly invaded the house. He surveyed a tree outside a window of a brightly-lit room and climbed it without hesitation. The window was closed, but it was unlocked. He took a peek inside and smiled when he saw the love of his life sitting on the floor, nose deep in a book. The room was packed with bookshelves and books, looking like a little cramped library. At once, Yixing pushed open the window and threw himself into the room, startling the unsuspecting male inside.

“Junmyeon, I’m back,” Yixing breathlessly said as he stood to his full height.

“W-What are you doing here, Yixing?” Junmyeon’s eyes widened in fear as he stood up on his shaky legs.

“I’ve came back for you, silly,” Yixing gave a lunatic smile at Junmyeon as he neared the smaller male.

“FanFan! Wu Yifan!” Junmyeon screamed out before a hand was pressed against his mouth.

“Why are you calling that bastard’s name for?” Yixing frowned before softening his gaze at his former fiancé. “I’ve missed you, my Myeonie. Let me enjoy this moment. Just this once.”

Yixing then planted a soft kiss on the pale male’s lips and let it linger there.

“Zhang Yixing! You never learn, do you?” Yixing pulled away to stare emotionlessly at Kris who was at the door with a furious expression on his face. “Get away from him!”

As soon as those words left Kris’ mouth, there was a series of harsh knocks that could be heard outside. Kris peeked out the window and his eyes widened at the sight of a dozen police officers and police cars outside his house.

“Yixing, what is the meaning of this?” Kris glanced at Yixing with fright.

“Relax, they’ve come for me. I’ve finally killed my own father. And that’s the best accomplishment of my life. But before I go with the police, I want to see my angel for the last time,” Yixing replied before reaching out to caress Junmyeon’s cheek. “I’m sorry that we can’t be together, baby. And I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you badly all these years. I’m too broken inside and you’re too good for this world. If the world is fair, we would’ve been together.”

“You’re fucking insane, Zhang Yixing,” Kris growled.

“I know,” Yixing gave his final smile to Junmyeon before police officers swarmed the room and detained Yixing.

“Zhang Yixing, you’re under arrest for the murder of Zhang Zijian. You have the right to be silent. Anything that you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You will now be sent to the police station for further questioning.”

And with that, Yixing was pushed out of the house and into the police car.

“Sorry for the disturbance, gentlemen. If you could excuse us,” the head police officer bowed to Kris and Junmyeon before instructing his team to leave the vicinity. When the uninvited guests had all left their home, Kris quickly turned to Junmyeon and hugged his fiancé.

“Myeon, are you okay?” Kris worriedly asked as he inspected his fiancé’s face for any marks.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Junmyeon shakily answered. It was hard to comprehend that such an unbelievable thing had happened in a blink of an eye. One second he was reading his book peacefully and the next second their house was trespassed by an old flame and a swarm of police officers.

“D-Did he do anything to you?” Kris glanced at Junmyeon, staring worriedly into the smaller male’s brown eyes.

“He just kissed me. That’s all he did,” Junmyeon assured his fiancé, giving him a forced smile. Kris smiled back and ruffled the smaller male’s hair.

“Isn’t Zhang Zijian Yixing’s dad?” Junmyeon asked aloud.

“I don’t know, Myeon,” Kris sighed heavily. “Anyway, just stop thinking about Yixing. He’s already out of our narrative. He’s no longer going to get in the way of our happiness.”

“Yeah. You’re right. It’s just…I didn’t expect that to happen,” Junmyeon almost shuddered as he recalled what had had unfolded a few minutes ago.

“Don’t worry too much about that. Come on, let’s have some rest. You’re going to meet my grandmother tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

The engaged couple kissed each other on the lips before intertwining their hands, heading to their shared bedroom. With Kris snuggling against him, letting out soft snores, Junmyeon stared blankly at the dark space in their bedroom. When Yixing threw him his final smile, it was broken and frail. And Junmyeon honestly felt that that was Yixing’s true self. Junmyeon then closed his eyes and shifted around to snuggle closely to his fiancé. His happiness is with Kris now.

 

 


	28. Epilogue

Kris and Junmyeon’s wedding day had finally arrived. Since young, Junmyeon had always dreamt of having a serene garden wedding so Kris fulfilled his lover’s wish by booking a grand estate overlooking a 20-hectare park. The ambience for the wedding was simply amazing with the splendid cocktail reception, and a pair of ornate fountains and a romantic-roofed gazebo on the beautiful grounds to complete the romantic setting.

Also, the weather could not be more perfect for their big day. The sun shone brightly on the attendees who were animatedly talking to one another as they helped themselves to the delicious cuisine. Kris and Junmyeon invited a lot of people to their wedding, including their family, friends and for Kris’ case, his employees and business acquaintances.

Kyungsoo, Jongin, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Luhan and Sehun all shared a table, having a very pleasant conversation among each other. Kyungsoo and Jongin, and Luhan and Sehun were the actual couples and the two couples made the single Chanyeol and Baekhyun feel slightly uncomfortable with their romantic gestures. Since Chanyeol and Baekhyun were not dating anyone, they decided to be each other’s dates for the wedding. Even Tao, Chen and Xiumin attended the wedding. Tao was now living with Kris and Junmyeon, working as their personal bodyguard and chauffeur. Chen and Xiumin were no longer working under Yixing so they currently had their own respective jobs.

Finally, the main couple had arrived and the crowd clapped as the pair headed to the gazebo. Kris and Junmyeon both exchanged their vows before saying “I do” and kissing each other with the crowd once again cheering and clapping in unison. Kris’ grandmother beamed with happiness from her seat in the front row while Kris’ divorced parents set aside their differences to show their support for their son. Next to them, Junmyeon’s aunt dabbed her tear-stricken eyes with a tissue paper, feeling proud and happy for her nephew.

Junmyeon then threw the wedding banquet that he was holding behind him and Luhan managed to catch it thanks to his height while Baekhyun and Kyungsoo both glared at him. The newlyweds and the rest of the crowd laughed as Luhan stuck his tongue at the two shorter males.

“Hey Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo whispered to the other male.

“What is it, Soo?” Baekhyun asked, his glare still focused on Luhan.

“How about we forget our ‘animosity’ and gang up against this pretty boy?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Luhan saw the evil glints in their eyes and gulped, “H-Hey! I was just joking!”

Ignoring his pleas, the two short males charged at Luhan, tickling him mercilessly while their boyfriends and Chanyeol just stared fondly at them, laughing at their antics.

* * *

In the hotel suite before they head to Prague for their honeymoon, Junmyeon sat on the enormous bed with his legs tucked in. This was it. The moment where he would be surrendering all of him to Kris. The mere thought of it alone made Junmyeon a nervous wreck.

Noticing his husband shaking, Kris placed a comforting hand on the small of Junmyeon’s back. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“I-I want to! I really do!” Junmyeon insisted, his eyes blazing intensely.

“That’s good to hear, love. But you’re shaking!”

“I’m t-trembling with excitement! I’m just nervous that the bed would wobble and break under our lovemaking.”

“Who says we’re doing it on the bed?” Kris said slyly.

In an instant, Kris leaned forward and scooped Junmyeon into his arms, the smaller male squealing in response.

“Are you ready?” Kris asked, gazing intensely at Junmyeon.

“I’m born ready,” Junmyeon replied, his eyes twinkling with excitement and anticipation before reaching up to plant a soft kiss on his husband’s lips.

“ _Wǒ ài nǐ_.”

Kris’s eyes widened at the familiar language and smiled back at the smaller male.

“ _Wǒ yě ài nǐ_.”

Smiling at each other, Kris marched towards the bathroom with Junmyeon in his arms, entering it and not forgetting to slam it shut behind him.

* * *

“Mr. Zhang Yixing, you have a visitor.”

The Chinese male just remained his position on the bed and merely stared at the white ceiling above him. He had long resigned to his fate. He had expected to be given the death sentence but he had never expected his lawyer would bring up his late mother’s video as evidence during his trial. Yixing later found out that it was Chen who had given his lawyer the video. So now, he had been placed into a psych ward. Yixing had preferred the death sentence but maybe God wanted to prolong his suffering and torture as a punishment for everything that he did, especially towards Junmyeon.

“Sir.”

Yixing barely moved from his position.

“Here, the pictures of Junmyeon’s wedding with Kris.”

A stack of pictures landed on his lap. Yixing shuffled through the pictures emotionlessly till he stopped on the picture which had Junmyeon and Kris smiling at each other after exchanging their vows. After spending a few minutes staring at it, he threw all of the pictures away with some of them scattering across the bed and floor. Smiles were so foreign to him. He had wanted to be the reason behind Junmyeon’s smiles. Seeing him with another man sickened him so much. And now, it seemed that he had to finally let go of Junmyeon.

After a moment, Yixing lifted his head to stare at his visitor.  

“What’s your name?” Yixing asked.

The visitor frowned. Had his former boss already forgotten his name? “It’s Chen.”

“No…your real name.”

“…It’s Jongdae.”

“Jongdae…that’s a nice name…” Yixing closed his eyes before smiling serenely.

 

-FIN-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so proud of myself to have completed an entire story *sheds tears*
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the story! Stay tuned for more of my works! :)


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